Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Begin ACC Championships Thursday vs. Clemson
4/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 20, 2011
Wake Forest Notes 
| Tournament Bracket | Tournament Central
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's tennis team will open the 2011 ACC Championships at noon on Thursday at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. The Demon Deacons are the tournament's No. 7 seed and will take on 10th-seeded Clemson in their first match.
The Wake Forest women's tennis team will also be playing its first round match at noon on Thursday and Deacons fans are encouraged to come support both teams.
The No. 32 Deacons return to Cary Tennis Park, the venue for significant Wake Forest postseason success in recent years. The Deacs have reached the semifinals of the ACC Championships in each of the past four seasons, the only team other than Virginia to accomplish that feat, and three of those tournaments were played in Cary. Wake made it to the title match of the 2009 ACC Championship for the first time in program history, before falling to top-seeded Virginia at Cary Tennis Center.
This year, seventh-seeded Wake Forest (12-10, 5-6 ACC) opens up against No. 10 seed Clemson (15-11, 2-9 ACC) on Thursday at noon in a first round match. The Demon Deacons cruised past the Tigers 6-1 in the only regular season meeting between the two teams back in March in Clemson, S.C.. Against the Tigers this season, the Deacs swept the doubles matches, and picked up wins at the bottom five singles positions to earn the win.
The winner of Thursday's match will take on No. 2 seed North Carolina (14-6, 9-2 ACC)
Despite entering last year's tournament as the No. 6 seed, after coming out on the bottom of a four-team tiebreaker, the Deacs were able to upend a third-seeded Tar Heel squad in the quarterfinals to reach their fourth-straight semis. In that match, Steven Forman came all the way back from a 0-5 third-set deficit against Clay Donato to score Wake Forest's third point, and Danny Kreyman squeaked by Cameron Ahari in a third-set tiebreak to push the Deacons past the Heels 4-3.
This year's Wake Forest squad also played to a 4-3 score with the Tar Heels, but this time the Deacons came out on the losing end. North Carolina won a tight doubles point, and despite Kreyman's upset of No. 103 Joey Burkhardt, the Deacs could only find three singles matches.
Wake Forest has had a number of players chalk up individual achievements this season. Jonathan Wolff has scored nine victories over ranked players and has risen as high as No. 45 in the national rankings. Iain Atkinson and Danny Kreyman are tied for the team lead with 14 dual-match singles wins and seven ACC singles wins. At one point, Wake had four players in the singles rankings at the same time, only the third time that has occurred in the history of the program.
Wake Forest has a history of strong doubles, putting a team in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship. It took a little while for the Deacons' top doubles team to reveal itself this year, but eventually Atkinson and David Hopkins took hold of the No. 1 position, jumping into the national rankings at No. 36 after only four matches together, that featured wins over No. 11 Juan Spir/Kevin King (Georgia Tech) and No. 59 Joey Burkhardt/Stefan Hardy (UNC). The Deacon duo is currently ranked No. 39 in the national doubles rankings.
For up-to-the minute Wake Forest tennis news, follow the Deacs on Twitter @WakeTennis or twitter.com/WakeTennis
Players Mentioned
