Wake Forest Athletics
Saturday, February 16
Chicago, Ill.
1:00 PM (ET)
Wake Forest University
4
vs
3
UCLA
Efstathiou’s Comeback, Chrysochos’ Record Send Deacs to ITA Semis
2/16/2019 7:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Melios Efstathiou third-set rally and Petros Chrysochos’ record-breaking win send the Deacs past UCLA, 4-3
CHICAGO, Ill. – Trailing 4-1 in the third set, freshman Melios Efstathiou rallied for a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory to send the top-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team past No. 7 UCLA, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Senior Petros Chrysochos etched his name in the record books, becoming Wake Forest's (11-1) all-time singles leader with 120 career singles victories. He surpassed former teammate Skander Mansouri, who set the mark of 119 wins a year ago.
The Demon Deacons took the final two matches remaining Saturday (Feb. 16) to complete the comeback against the Bruins (4-2). Trailing by a 3-2 margin, Bar Botzer was pushed to a second-set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles after taking the opening set, 6-4. The sophomore outlasted Patrick Zahraj in the tiebreaker, 7-5, leveling the score at three-all.
All eyes turned to Efstathiou at the No. 4 spot, who had won his opening set 6-3 before dropping the second set by the same score. In the third and decisive set, Efstathiou found himself in a 1-4 hole before winning four consecutive games to climb all the way back and get on serve at 5-4. Tied at 5-all, Efstathiou held serve before breaking Mathew Tsolakyan, sealing the Demon Deacon comeback.
The thrilling finished followed a start that saw the sixth-seeded Bruins jump out to a 2-0 lead. UCLA took the doubles point and extended the lead with a win at No. 5 singles before Chrysochos put the Deacs on the board. The No. 1-ranked Chrysochos quickly cut UCLA's lead in half with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles, giving the senior his 13th consecutive singles win this year and record-breaking 120th win of his career.
Yuval Solomon followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles, leveling the score at 2-all. The Bruins were able to regain the lead with a victory at No. 1 singles, setting up the thrilling finish for the third-seeded Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest's semifinal match against seventh-seeded and eighth-ranked ACC foe North Carolina is set for 12 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, Feb. 17.
Senior Petros Chrysochos etched his name in the record books, becoming Wake Forest's (11-1) all-time singles leader with 120 career singles victories. He surpassed former teammate Skander Mansouri, who set the mark of 119 wins a year ago.
The Demon Deacons took the final two matches remaining Saturday (Feb. 16) to complete the comeback against the Bruins (4-2). Trailing by a 3-2 margin, Bar Botzer was pushed to a second-set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles after taking the opening set, 6-4. The sophomore outlasted Patrick Zahraj in the tiebreaker, 7-5, leveling the score at three-all.
All eyes turned to Efstathiou at the No. 4 spot, who had won his opening set 6-3 before dropping the second set by the same score. In the third and decisive set, Efstathiou found himself in a 1-4 hole before winning four consecutive games to climb all the way back and get on serve at 5-4. Tied at 5-all, Efstathiou held serve before breaking Mathew Tsolakyan, sealing the Demon Deacon comeback.
The thrilling finished followed a start that saw the sixth-seeded Bruins jump out to a 2-0 lead. UCLA took the doubles point and extended the lead with a win at No. 5 singles before Chrysochos put the Deacs on the board. The No. 1-ranked Chrysochos quickly cut UCLA's lead in half with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles, giving the senior his 13th consecutive singles win this year and record-breaking 120th win of his career.
Yuval Solomon followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles, leveling the score at 2-all. The Bruins were able to regain the lead with a victory at No. 1 singles, setting up the thrilling finish for the third-seeded Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest's semifinal match against seventh-seeded and eighth-ranked ACC foe North Carolina is set for 12 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, Feb. 17.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
Maxime Cressy / 0 [UCLA]
67
45
#2 Singles Match
12
Govind Nanda / 0 [UCLA]
14
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Patrick Zahraj / 0 [UCLA]
46
67
#4 Singles Match
123
Mathew Tsolakyan / 0 [UCLA]
365
637
#5 Singles Match
12
Ben Goldberg / 0 [UCLA]
66
23
#6 Singles Match
12
Eric Hahn / 0 [UCLA]
22
66
Order of Finish:
5,2,6,1,3,4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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