Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Add Petros Chrysochos for 2016 Season
11/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest men's tennis has added Petros Chrysochos to the squad for the 2016 spring season, head coach Tony Bresky announced Wednesday.
Chrysochos, a native of Larnaca, Cyprus, son of Irini and John Chrysochos and graduate of American Academy Larnaca, will join the program in January along with Dennis Uspensky, who signed with the Demon Deacons at the beginning of June. The two join Eric Rutledge and Alan Gadjiev, who came to Wake Forest in August at the start of the school year.
"I am excited to announce the addition of Petros to our program," Bresky said of the signing. "Petros has already achieved so much in his junior career and early stages of playing on the pro circuit and I can't wait to help him continue along his path to success. He has the mindset and attitude of a professional player and that is exactly what we're looking for here at Wake Forest."
In the last two months, Chrysochos has reached a career-high rank of No. 469 in the ATP World Tour rankings and currently sits at No. 495 in the world. On the Junior ITF circuit, he reached No. 19 in the world and was named Tennis Europe Under 16 Player of the Year in 2012 for being the top-ranked junior. In his career, Chrysochos has won 10 Junior ITF singles titles and five doubles titles to go with three ITF Pro Futures Circuit singles titles. He's also played in all four junior Grand Slam events.
Chrysochos currently competes alongside Marcos Baghdatis for the Cypriot Davis Cup team. Baghdatis is currently ranked No. 45 in the world. Chrysochos has spent his entire career at the Herodotou Tennis Academy in Larnaca, where he trains with head coach and owner Demetris Herodotou.
"Petros is a great player and an ever better person," said assistant coach Jeremy Feldman. "Petros and his coach, Demetris, have done such a great job developing his game and I look forward to working with him to build upon the foundation they have built. I am excited to see Petros and Dennis wearing black and gold this spring as they represent our tennis program and university."
Chrysochos and Uspensky are set to join the Demon Deacons in January. Uspensky is also a highly-ranked recruit coming to Winston-Salem after spending the fall playing various professional tournaments. At the time of Uspensky's signing in June, he was ranked No. 1,158 in the ATP singles rankings. Currently, he ranks No. 1,021 after jumping up 36 spots in this week's release of the rankings. The current rank is a career high for the 19-year old from Delray Beach, Florida. Uspensky was also ranked by Tennis Recruiting Network as high as No. 3 in the country in his class in 2014 and No. 1 in 2013.
In his career, Uspensky has already played in the Junior French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. This year alone, he has picked up highlight victories over Sekou Bangoura (currently No. 225 in the world), Wil Spencer (currently No. 478 in the world) and Catalin Gard (currently No. 800 in the world).
Wake Forest will open the 2016 slate on January 16 with home matches against North Florida and East Tennessee State. The following weekend from Jan. 23-24, the Deacs will host a regional bracket of the ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament. The Demon Deacons are set to host Auburn, Tennessee and Cal Poly with the winner of the bracket advancing to the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia, from Feb. 12-15.
This weekend, Wake Forest will host the Wake Forest Invitational from Nov. 6-8 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
Players Mentioned
