Wake Forest University
South Carolina
No. 1 Deacs Punch Ticket to NCAA Round of 16
5/13/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The top-ranked and top-seeded Wake Forest men's tennis team punched its ticket to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship Sunday (May 13) afternoon with a 4-1 victory over South Carolina in the second round of the Winston-Salem Regional.
The Demon Deacons (27-2) will be making their third-straight Round of 16 appearance and sixth in program history. A year ago, Wake Forest advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament, marking the best finish in program history.
Wake Forest will be serving as the finals host site for the first time in program history and will be facing 16th-seeded Columbia Friday (May 18) in the Round of 16.
In temperatures that topped 90 degrees, the Deacs secured the doubles point and singles victories on the top three courts to take down South Carolina (19-9).
Bar Botzer and Petros Chrysochos, the 35th-ranked doubles team nationally, opened the action with a quick 6-1 victory over South Carolina's No. 58 duo of Mayronne and Friedrich. The No. 1 doubles team of Borna Gojo and Skander Mansouri, ranked 21st nationally, earned a break in the final service game to claim the 6-4 decision and the doubles point for the Deacs.
Chrysochos, ranked fourth in the country, quickly made it 2-0 as he blitzed by #40 Gabriel Friedrich at the No. 2 position, 6-2, 6-0. The Gamecocks countered with a victory at the No. 6 position as Rrezart Cungu fell to Wood Benton.
Mansouri, ranked 38th, pushed the Deacs to within a point of victory as he claimed a 6-3, 7-5 victory at the No. 3 position.
South Carolina, who had dropped the first set on the three remaining courts, began to try and mount a comeback. Botzer and Gojo each were forced to a second set tiebreaker while Seraphim had to outlast his opponent in a first-set tiebreaker. With Botzer and Gojo battled in simultaneously in tiebreakers, with each having a chance to clinch the match. Ultimately it was Gojo in the No. 1 spot as he closed out the 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) victory.
Wake Forest's Round of 16 match with Columbia is scheduled for a first serve of 4 p.m. on Friday. Women's Round of 16 matches will open competition on Thursday before the men take to the courts on Friday.
#1 [1] Wake Forest 4, #29 South Carolina 1
Doubles Results
1. #21 Borna Gojo/Skander Mansouri (WF) def. Harrison O'Keefe/Yancy Dennis (SC) 6-4
2. #35 Bar Botzer/Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #58 Thomas Mayronne/Gabriel Friedrich (SC) 6-1
3. #46 Ian Dempster/Christian Seraphim (WF) vs. Wood Benton/Paul Jubb (SC) 5-4 unf.
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles Results
1. #7 Borna Gojo (WF) def. #59 Paul Jubb (SC) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
2. #4 Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #40 Gabriel Friedrich (SC) 6-2, 6-0
3. #38 Skander Mansouri (WF) def. Thomas Mayronne (SC) 6-3, 7-5
4. Bar Botzer (WF) vs. Yancy Dennis (SC) 6-2, 6-6 (8-8), unf.
5. Christian Seraphim (WF) vs. #50 Harrison O'Keefe (SC) 7-6 (7-5), 5-3, unf.
6. Wood Benton (SC) def. Rrezart Cungu (WF) 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 3, 1
Players Mentioned
