Wake Forest University
North Carolina
Resilient Deacs Take Down No. 1 North Carolina
4/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The No. 6 Wake Forest men's tennis team dropped the doubles competition and lost the first set on five of six singles courts, but stormed back to stun top-ranked North Carolina, 4-3, at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Sunday afternoon.
The match came down to No. 4 singles, where Romain Bogaerts pulled out a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory to give the Demon Deacons their first-ever win over a No. 1-ranked team.
"Overall, it was just a great match," said Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky. "That's what college tennis is about--last match on is 7-6 in the third set. I don't know if you can say enough about the resiliency and toughness of our guys to come back and beat two great teams after losing five first sets two matches in a row."
The win upped the Deacons' record to 24-4 on the season, tying the program record for victories in a single season. Now on an 11-match winning streak, they are 8-1 in ACC competition and 15-4 against ranked competition, including 5-1 against foes in the top 10.
The Tar Heels got on the board first by taking the doubles point. Bogaerts and Dennis Uspensky cruised to a 6-1 win at No. 3, but the hosts answered when No. 31-ranked Brayden Schnur and Jack Murray won, 6-3, at No. 2 and No. 3 Brett Clark and Robert Kelly won, 6-4, at No. 1.
In singles, Uspensky made quick work of Anu Kodali in a 6-0, 6-3 decision at No. 6 to tie the match, but North Carolina responded quickly with wins at Nos. 1 and 3 to make it 3-1.
Needing wins on the remaining three courts, Petros Chrysochos got the rally started by recovering from a 6-4 first-set loss to No. 23 Ronnie Schneider at No. 2 to win, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. He is now 14-0 at the second position and is 7-0 against ranked opponents.
At No. 5, Christian Seraphim fell behind, 5-1, in the second set after dropping the first frame to 95th-ranked Jack Murray. The Deacon redshirt sophomore would not relent, however, and won six-consecutive games to force a decisive third set. In the final set, Seraphim broke Murray's serve to gain a 4-2 advantage en route to a 6-3 win.
Bogaerts' third set at No. 4 was even at four when Seraphim secured his win. From there, he and Robert Kelly exchanged service breaks until a tiebreaker became necessary with the score knotted at six. In the breaker, Bogaerts reeled off five-consecutive points to take a 5-1 lead. Kelly trimmed the gap to 5-4 and then 6-5, but the Wake Forest senior held off the nation's 82nd-ranked singles player to triumph, 7-5.
The victory was the 99th of Bogaerts' career, good for seventh in program history. Seraphim became the 10th Demon Deacon to reach 31 wins in a single season.
"Our fitness and the amount of time and effort the guys put in paid off today," Bresky said. "It's nice to be rewarded for that throughout the course of the season."
Wake Forest resumes play next Saturday when it wraps up its regular-season home schedule against No. 75 Duke.
No. 6 Wake Forest 4, No. 1 North Carolina 3
Singles competition
1. No. 46 Brayden Schnur (NC) def. No. 16 Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 36 Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. No. 23 Ronnie Schneider (NC) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 37 Brett Clark (NC) def. Jon Ho (WF) 6-2, 6-4
4. Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. No. 82 Robert Kelly (NC) 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5)
5. Christian Seraphim (WF) def. No. 95 Jack Murray (NC) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
6. Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Anudeep Kodali (NC) 6-0, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6,1,3,2,5,4
Doubles competition
1. No. 3 Brett Clark/Robert Kelly (NC) def. No. 12 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-4
2. No. 31 Brayden Schnur/Jack Murray (NC) def. No. 48 Petros Chrysochos/Jon Ho (WF) 6-3
3. Romain Bogaerts/Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Ronnie Schneider/Andrew Gores (NC) 6-1
Order of Finish: 3,2,1
Players Mentioned
