Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Men's Tennis Releases 2010-11 Schedule
9/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 1, 2010
2010-11 Schedule | Printable Schedule (PDF) 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's tennis team has released its 2010-11 schedule, with the season slate containing 12 home matches and highlighted by a road match against last year's national runner-up Tennessee and a home contest versus Virginia, which finished the 2010 season ranked No. 3 in the country.
The Demon Deacons will also compete in six fall tournaments, beginning September 10-12 when they travel to Virginia for the UVA Fall Classic. The Deacs will send players to the prestigious ITA/D'Novo All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., October 4-10, and will be well represented at the ITA Carolina Regional held in Chapel Hill, N.C., October 14-17.
"The fall is really where we can coach and teach and help our players develop," said head coach Jeff Zinn. "The fall tournaments are especially important for the two freshmen that enrolled in January (Tripper Carleton and Zach Leslie), because they give them a chance to really help their national rankings."
The Deacs will play an extremely challenging dual match schedule in the spring, with 18 of their 22 opponents finishing the 2010 season in the ITA national rankings, and eight of them ending last year in the Top 25.
"I feel like you have to play as good of a schedule as you can, because the guys need to know how good the competition is," said Zinn. "The ACC is such a talented conference, that if we want to continue to finish in the top three or four in the ACC, we have to play the best out-of-conference schedule that we can get."
Wake Forest will begin dual match play at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Lexington, Ky. with a match against Wisconsin on January 29. The winner will face the winner of Kentucky vs. Boise State contest for a chance to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
The Deacons will open their home slate against Virginia Commonwealth on February 13, and will host 2010 Sweet 16 team Louisville on February 19 and LSU on February 20.
Wake Forest will then travel to face last year's national runner-up Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. on February 27. The Deacons came up just short of an upset of the Volunteers in 2010, falling 4-3 at Leighton Stadium. Tennessee lost to Southern Cal in the 2010 NCAA Championship Match.
"That's going to be a great match," said Zinn. "They didn't lose many players from last year. We're excited to get a chance to play them again, and I think they just redid their facility so it should be really nice up there."
The Demon Deacons will be tested immediately in ACC play, as they open with rivalry matches at Duke and home against North Carolina on March 18 and 20. Wake Forest downed UNC twice in the 2009 season, but fell to the Blue Devils in the semifinals of the 2010 ACC Championships.
"Duke had our number last year a couple times, and they have a dynamite team coming back," said Zinn. "We have to start strong, and the fall season is the key to us getting better so that we can accomplish that goal."
Wake Forest will host a marquee home match against Virginia on April 9. The Cavaliers have one of the top tennis programs in the country and have achieved a No. 1 ranking in each of the last four seasons.
"That's going to be a typical Wake Forest vs. Virginia match," said Zinn. "There's going to be some great tennis. It's going to be hard fought by both teams."
Following the conclusion of the ACC regular season, the Deacons will compete in the 2011 ACC Championships, which will once again be held in Cary, N.C. from April 21-24.
"Playing in the ACC is very challenging; there are no easy matches" said Zinn. "If you want to be the best tennis conference in the country, all 12 teams better be good, and they are. I like that, because I don't think that playing easy matches makes you better. You have to play the best competition day in and day out."
The first two rounds of the 2011 NCAA Championships will be held at campus sites, with the Sweet 16 and onward being hosted by Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. from May 19-24. The NCAA Individual Championships will also be held in Palo Alto, following the conclusion of the team event.
The Deacs are coming off a 2010 season that saw them advance to the semifinals of the ACC Championships for the fourth consecutive year. Wake Forest made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to then-No. 1 Virginia.
"I feel good about this team," said Zinn. "We were so young last year, and we're still a little young this year - we have a lot of sophomores, but at least they have experience. It's hard to win with freshmen, but you can win with sophomores. We have two great seniors in Jonathan Wolff and Iain Atkinson. I like this team a lot."
Players Mentioned
