No. 4 Wake Forest men’s tennis rose to their high expectations early in the season, winning an early test against No. 3 Ohio State at Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center Sunday afternoon.
The match started quickly for the Demon Deacons, with USC transfer Stefan Dostanic and star junior DK Suresh Ekamabaram winning their doubles court against Ohio State’s Aidan Kim and Will Jansen, 6-1.
After falling for the first time this season in Saturday’s match against Georgia, Wake Forest’s No. 4 doubles team Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi bounced back against the Buckeyes, taking their court and the team doubles point 6-3.
With the doubles point in hand, the Demon Deacons needed to win three of the six singles courts to win the match, and the team carried the momentum into their singles matches, taking four out of six first sets.
One of the most dominant performances of the day for the Demon Deacons occurred on court one, as Dostanic commanded a victory against No. 11 Kim. After an unconventional point allowed Dostanic to clinch a game late in the second set, Kim pleaded with the umpire to change the ruling to no avail. Dostanic finished off the set to seal the Demon Deacons’ first singles point, 6-3, 6-3.
On court three, Wake Forest freshman Charlie Robertson found his stride in the first set as well, breaking No. 46 Alexander Bernard early on. Robertson cruised through the set from there despite a slight hiccup after Bernard broke one game back late on. Robertson clinched his court in the second set, 6-3, 6-3, allowing the Demon Deacons to need one more court.
Elsewhere on other courts, though, Ohio State made things tight. Despite winning his first set, Tacchi fell 6-3, 1-6, 5-7 against the Buckeyes’ Preston Stearns. Both Stearns and Tacchi broke serves from each other late in the third set, but Stearns was able to come back and claim the Buckeyes’ first point on court six.
Minutes later, the Demon Deacons dropped another opportunity to seal the match when Ohio State’s Jack Anthrop battled back to beat No. 115 Ioannis Xilas. Xilas had initially won his first set 6-2, but Anthrop came from behind in the second set and brought momentum to the third, finishing the match off, 6-2, 5-7, 2-6.
“We jumped on them early, and it looked like it was going to be a convincing win, but it never truly is,” Wake Forest Head Coach Tony Bresky said in a post-match statement. “They fought back and made things super tight.”
The match then came down to its two tightest courts, with Pow facing No. 107 Chris Li, and No. 7 Suresh Ekambaram against No. 61 Jansen.
Pow got off to a hot start against Li, leading 4-1 in the first set- but Li bounced back. The Buckeye clinched the first set, 6-7 (7-2), and the two players found themselves in a case of deja vu- heading to tie-break in the second set. Despite Pow’s best efforts, Li won match point, 6-7, 6-7 (7-5).
The matchup then came down to Suresh against Jansen, the most back-and-forth match of the day. Each player made incredible shots and recoveries throughout the first two sets while Jansen took the first set on tie-break. Suresh managed to prevail in the second set, setting up a decisive third frame. Suresh served aces and laced balls down each line to best Jansen, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2.
“It was a full team effort,” Bresky said. “It was great to be at home and get that win before we match up next week against a tough Columbia team. ”
The Demon Deacons look to carry their momentum against the No. 6 Columbia Lions in New York next weekend.
