Wake Forest men’s tennis dropped its first match in conference play in two years as they fell to the No. 25 ranked Stanford Cardinal in a heartbreaking 4-3 match.
With what looked to be a promising start, senior DK Suresh Ekambaram and redshirt freshman Andrew Delgado, the No. 4-ranked doubles pair in the country, picked up yet another win this season with a 7-5 victory over No. 21 Chang/Razeghi on court one. The final score indicated this wasn’t going to be an easy win for the Demon Deacons.
On Court 2, sophomore Kacper Szymkowiak and freshman Mees Rottgering were locked in a back-and-forth battle with Stanford’s Godsick/Rivera. A tiebreak decided the match at 6-6. Ultimately, Szymkowiak and Rottgering picked up their eighth win as a pair this season, defeating Stanford, 7-6(3), clinching the doubles point for the Deacs.
Singles play began in similar fashion, with all six courts in tightly contested battles. Luca Pow went back and forth with his opponent in his opening set, eventually grabbing the first set 7-5, before taking the second set, 6-0.
Senior DK Suresh picked up another singles win on the season, securing his match 6-4, 7-5, to put the Deacs up 3-0 – in reach of the victory.
Stanford started to gain momentum, however, when Alex Razeghi defeated Rottering in a nailbiting 7-6(5), 7-6(5) match.
From there, Stanford completed its comeback, securing three-set victories on Courts 5, 4 and 6, ending the Deacs ACC run.
“Really tough match on the road in the ACC,” Head Coach Tony Bresky said postmatch. “We’ve had a great run, and you have to give a lot of credit to Stanford. It’s a great learning experience for our group.”
Wake Forest looked to bounce back on Sunday afternoon as they faced No. 54 California in Berkeley.
The Demon Deacons got back in the win column as they took down Cal, 4-2, grabbing their 11th win in conference play.
Delgado and Suresh got the doubles session going as they burst ahead 4-1 on court one, setting the tone while the other doubles courts remained close. Pow and Shah struck first with a quick 6-3 victory. Moments later, Delgado and Suresh ended their opponents 6-3 to secure the doubles point.
The early edge gave Wake Forest momentum as singles play opened.
Joaquin Guilleme raced to a 4-0 lead and eventually snagged his opening set, 6-2. Mosejczuk grabbed his first set not long after at 6-3. Pow and Rottgering both picked up their first set tiebreaks in dramatic fashion, while Aryan Shah narrowly dropped his breaker, 7-6(5).
Guilleme and Mosejczuk both rolled to straight-set wins, and, despite losses from Suresh and Shah, Rottgering was unphased as he secured the match for the Deacs with a confident final set.
“Really proud of the way our guys responded today,” Bresky said. “This group has shown a lot of resilience all season, and it was great to see that again today.”
Wake Forest will return home next weekend, as they gear up for their regular season finale and senior night against N.C. State.
