Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Notre Dame
Deacs Defeat Notre Dame in Thriller
4/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Romain Bogaerts' comeback win in a third-set singles tiebreaker lifted the second-seeded Wake Forest men's tennis team past No. 7-seeded Notre Dame, 4-3, in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Demon Deacons advanced to the semifinal round on Saturday, where they will meet either Florida State or Virginia Tech at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C at 2 p.m. Friday's match began in Cary, but was moved off site to an indoor location less than 15 minutes into the doubles competition due to heavy rain.
When play picked up in Chapel Hill, the Deacons jumped in front, 1-0, thanks to a pair of doubles victories. Bogaerts and Dennis Uspensky raced out to 5-1 lead en route to a 6-3 win at No. 3 before Petros Chrysochos and Jon Ho took down No. 44-ranked Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar, 6-4, at the second spot.
Uspensky carried the Deacs' momentum into singles, dispatching Grayson Broadus, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 6 to double Wake Forest's cushion. Hagar snapped No. 19-ranked Chrysochos' 12-match win streak with a win at the second position to make it 2-1, but Skander Mansouri stretched the lead to 3-1 by erasing a 5-2 second-set deficit for a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win against No. 32 Quentin Monaghan at the top position.
Mansouri's win over Monaghan was his second of the season against the Notre Dame All-American and was his ninth of the spring season against a ranked foe. Uspensky now leads the Demon Deacons with 24 dual-match singles wins.
The Fighting Irish stayed in the match with a straight-set win at No. 3 and knotted the score when Kenneth Sabacinski fought off multiple match points in the third set to defeat Christian Seraphim, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 7-6 (5).
Bogaerts, who dropped his opening set in a tiebreaker to Alex Lawson, forced a decisive third set with a 6-4 triumph the next frame. Neither player could break serve in the final set, sending the match to a third-set tiebreaker. In the breaker, Bogaerts fell behind, 5-2, but reeled off five-consecutive points to secure the win. On match point, Lawson's return on Bogaerts' serve went long.
The match marked the second time this season Bogaerts clinched a 4-3 win for the Deacons at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The senior from Huppaye, Belgium also took down 82nd-ranked Robert Kelly of North Carolina, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5), on April 3 to give Wake Forest its first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team.
The victory increased the Deacs' school-record win total to 27—they are now 27-5 on the year with 17 wins over ranked opponents. The result also gave head coach Tony Bresky his 100th win at Wake Forest, giving him a 100-51 record in five seasons with the Deacons.
No. 7 Wake Forest 4, No. 41 Notre Dame 3
Singles competition
1. No. 14 Skander Mansouri (WF) def. No. 32 Quentin Monaghan (ND) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
2. Josh Hagar (ND) def. No. 19 Petros Chrysochos (WF) 6-1, 7-5
3. Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Jon Ho (WF) 6-3, 7-6 (4)
4. No. 118 Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Alex Lawson (ND) 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
5. Kenneth Sabacinski (ND) def. Christian Seraphim (WF) 7-6 (3), 1-6, 7-6 (5)
6. Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Grayson Broadus (ND) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6,2,1,3,5,4
Doubles competition
1. No. 13 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) vs. No. 12 Alex Lawson/Quentin Monaghan (ND) 5-6, unfinished
2. No. 78 Petros Chrysochos/Jon Ho (WF) def. No. 44 Eddy Covalschi/Josh Hagar (ND) 6-4
3. Romain Bogaerts/Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Grayson Broadus/Nicolas Montoya (ND) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3,2
Players Mentioned
