Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacon Duo Advances to NCAA Semifinals
5/26/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest men's tennis duo of Petros Chrysochos and Borna Gojo continued their storied postseason runs Saturday (May 26) afternoon, as the pair each advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship.
The two become just the second and third players in program history to advance to the semis of the singles draw, joining Noah Rubin who advanced all the way to the championship match in 2015.
Playing on courts that were next to each other, the two had similar starts as they each dropped the first set by identical scores of 6-4. Chrysochos, seeded fourth, made the first move in the second set, storming out of the gate to a 5-0 lead over Ohio state's Mikael Torpegaard. Torpegaard, the sixth seed in the field, would double fault to give Chrysochos the second set at 6-2.
Meanwhile, Gojo and North Carolina's William Blumberg were in a see-saw battle. The second set featured four straight breaks of serve and eventually saw Gojo with a 5-4 lead, on serve. The sophomore from Croatia would break Blumberg in the final service game to clinch the set, 6-4, and force a deciding third set.
Chrysochos was quickly in a hole to start the third set, trailing 5-2, while Gojo and Blumberg were on serve midway through the set. The Deacs started their third-set runs simultaneously as Chrysochos earned back one of the two breaks he had dropped to Torpegaard while Gojo broke to take a 4-2 lead. Chrysochos kept the momentum going, winning a total of four straight game to jump ahead 6-5. As he was looking to close out his opponent, Gojo did just that, punching his ticket to the semis with a 6-3 victory in the third set.
With all eyes on Chrysochos, Torpegaard saved match point to force a third-set tiebreaker. The Deac had opened a 5-2 lead in the decisive tiebreaker when lightning in the area forced play inside. Before fans could even take their seats, Chrysochos served back-to-back aces to close out the tiebreaker, 7-2, sending two Deacs to the semifinals.
Chrysochos meets the No. 1 overall seed, Martin Redlicki, in the semifinals while Gojo faces No. 3 (second-ranked) Nuno Borges of Mississippi State. Redlicki and Chrysochos have met once this year, with Chrysochos falling 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championship. Borges and Gojo have not met before.
First serve is set for 1:30 p.m. on Sunday (May 27) and will immediately follow the women's semifinal matches.
NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championship
R64 - #4 [4] Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #57 Michail Pervolarakis (PORT) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
R64 - #7 [7] Borna Gojo (WF) def. #98 Guanarteme Nuez (UT ARLINGTON) 6-3, 6-4
R64 - #38 Skander Mansouri def. #63 Johannes Schretter (BAY) 7-5, ret. inj.
R32 - #4 [4] Petros Chrysochos def. #50 William Bushamuka (UK) 5-0, ret. inj.
R32 - #7 [7] Borna Gojo (WF) def. #40 Gabriel Friedrich (SC) 6-4, 6-1
R32 - #2 [3] Nuno Borges (MSST) def. #38 Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
R16 - #4 [4] Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #36 Ryan Peniston (MEM) 6-2, 6-4
R16 - #7 [7] Borna Gojo (WF) def. #72 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-2
QF - #4 [4] Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #6 [6] Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(2)
QF - #7 [7] Borna Gojo (WF) def. #3 [2] William Blumberg (UNC), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Doubles Championship
R32 - #40 Peniston/Watson (MEM) def. #35 Bozer/Chrysochos (WF) 6-3, 5-7, 10-5
Players Mentioned
