While the rest of us were relaxing on a beach, exploring a new city with friends or spending quality time with family over spring break, the No. 6 men’s tennis team notched three consecutive wins against ranked ACC opponents.

The first win came on March 4 against No. 21 University of Miami (FL). With a 4-3 victory over the Hurricanes, this match was the Demon Deacons’ first win on the road so far this season.

Two days later, Wake Forest swept No. 29 Florida State 7-0 and picked up their second road win of the season. Doubles teams consisting of graduate student Ben Draper and redshirt senior Eduardo Nava on Court 1 and graduate student Jurabek Karimov and senior Siddhant Banthia on Court 2 secured the doubles point with both pairs winning 6-4.

On March 10, Wake Forest played their first home match of the break against No. 29 NC State, which the Demon Deacons won by a margin of 5-2. In the second match of the double-header on March 10, Wake Forest defeated Bluefield State College 6-1. 

The win against Miami began with Wake Forest clinching the doubles point. Karimov and his doubles partner Banthia started the match on a high note on Court 2 by defeating their opponents 6-2. 

On Court 3, sophomore Filippo Moroni and his doubles partner graduate student Jakob Schnaitter defeated their opponents in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-4). 

The road became a little rocky at singles, as the Demon Deacons struggled to pull out enough wins, but No. 62-ranked singles player Nava and Schnaitter won their matches at No. 3 and No. 6 singles, respectively. 

These wins were outweighed by losses from Karimov along with juniors Taha Baadi and Rrezart Cungu. As the score remained tied at 3-3, the match would once again come down to Moroni. For the fourth time, the Valenza, Italy native clinched the win for Wake Forest. 

In singles matches against Florida State, Karimov, Nava, Cungu, Moroni, Schnaitter and Banthia defeated their Seminoles opponents in dominant fashion. Karimov, Nava, Cungu and Moroni did so in straight sets. 

At doubles, on Court 2 Karimov and Banthia beat their opponents 6-4 while on Court 3 Schnaitter and junior Matthew Thomson captured a 6-3 win, giving Wake Forest its first point. 

In singles against NC State, senior Melios Efstathiou, Cungu, Schnaitter and Banthia defeated their Wolfpack counterparts. Karimov and Nava both fell at No. 1 and No. 3 singles respectively after the win had already been clinched. 

Against Bluefield State, Demon Deacons’ only slipup occurred at doubles, in which the Big Blues won two of the three matches, giving them their only point of the match. In singles, however, Efstathiou, Schnaitter, Banthia, junior Juan Lopez de Azcona, Matthew Thomson and Draper all won in straight sets. 

After two very successful weeks, the Demon Deacons (21-4 overall and 17-0 at home) have a series of ACC matches on the road. After a short break, on March 25 Wake Forest travels to Virginia Tech. This match will be followed by matches against No. 18 University of Virginia, No. 32 Notre Dame and No. 45 Louisville. The Demon Deacons’ next home game is several weeks away on April 8 against No. 48 Clemson.