Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
South Carolina
Demon Deacons Blank No. 55 South Carolina, 7-0
2/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The 10th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team downed No. 55 South Carolina, 7-0, at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex on Friday evening. The Demon Deacons improved to 6-1 on the season and remained unbeaten at home, upping their record in Winston-Salem to 5-0.
Six of the Deacons' seven matches have been against ranked opponents.
The Deacs started strong by sweeping their way through the doubles competition. To open the contest, the 25th-ranked tandem of Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim downed Harrison O'Keefe and Sam Swank, 6-3.
The second and third doubles matches then finished simultaneously as Petros Chrysochos and Jon Ho capped a 6-4 win at No. 2 and Romain Bogaerts and Dennis Uspensky finished off a 6-3 victory at the third spot.
Taking a 1-0 lead into singles play, Wake Forest did not slow down en route to the win.
Bogaerts kept the momentum rolling for the Deacons with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4. On the next court over, Ho padded the Deacs' cushion with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph at No. 3, using an ace to seal his decision over reigning SEC Player of the Week and No. 65-ranked Harrison O'Keefe.
With Wake Forest on the brink of the team win, up 3-0, Uspensky completed a first-set comeback and took control early in his second set to clinch the contest, prevailing at No. 5, 7-5, 6-2. The Atlantic Beach, N.Y. native was trailing, 4-1, in the opening frame before winning 12 of the next 15 games.
The remaining singles matches all went to a third set.
At No. 2, Chrysochos earned his first win over a ranked singles opponent, outlasting No. 116 Alex Fennell, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-2. Seraphim made it 6-0 by closing out a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3) win at the sixth spot against Yancy Dennis. Mansouri, coming off his first ACC Player of the Week honor, then completed the sweep by rallying after dropping a first-set tiebreaker to dispatch Gabriel Friedrich, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4, at the top position.
The match was Wake Forest's last at home until it hosts Texas on Feb. 27. The Deacs will travel to No. 40 Tennessee for a noon contest on Sunday before heading to Charlottesville, Va. to make their program debut at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships from Feb. 12-15.
No. 10 Wake Forest 7, No. 55 South Carolina 0
Singles competition
1. No. 26 Skander Mansouri (WF) def. Gabriel Friedrich (SC) 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4
2. Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. No. 116 Alex Fennell (SC) 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-2
3. No. 103 Jon Ho (WF) def. No. 65 Harrison O'Keefe (SC) 6-3, 6-4
4. Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Andrew Schafer (SC) 6-3, 6-2
5. Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Thomas Mayronne (SC) 7-5, 6-2
6. Christian Seraphim (WF) def. Yancy Dennis (SC) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3)
Order of Finish: 4,3,5,2,6,1
Doubles competition
1. No. 25 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. Harrison O'Keefe/Sam Swank (SC) 6-3
2. Petros Chrysochos/Jon Ho (WF) def. Alex Fennell/Thomas Mayronne (SC) 6-4
3. Romain Bogaerts/Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Yancy Dennis/Gabriel Friedrich (SC) 6-3
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Players Mentioned
