No. 4 Deacs Hold Off No. 23 Notre Dame for ACC Semifinal Berth

Friday, April 19

Cary, N.C.

9:00 AM

Wake Forest University

Notre Dame

2019 ACC Tennis Championship #ACCWTEN #ACCMTEN

No. 4 Deacs Hold Off No. 23 Notre Dame for ACC Semifinal Berth

4/19/2019 3:48:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Siddhant Banthia’s tiebreaker victory sends Wake Forest to a 4-3 win over Fighting Irish

By: By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)

CARY, N.C. – Freshman Siddhant Banthia's tiebreaker victory lifted the fourth-ranked and top-seeded Wake Forest men's tennis team past No. 23 Notre Dame, 4-3, Friday (April 19) afternoon at Cary Tennis Park.

With the win, the Demon Deacons (27-3) punched their ticket to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season. In tomorrow's semifinal match, the Deacs will face No. 20 NC State at 10 a.m. The Deacs defeated the Wolfpack, 4-2, earlier this year indoors on the road.

The Fighting Irish (17-14) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after taking a closely contested doubles point. Bar Botzer and Petros Chrysochos opened competition with a 6-4 win at the No. 2 spot before Notre Dame took the final two courts to clinch the point.

The top of Wake Forest's order took over in singles play, picking up three consecutive victories in the top three singles spots to put the Deacs within a point of victory. Borna Gojo was the first victorious Deac, taking a 6-4, 6-2 decision at No. 1 singles. Chrysochos followed shortly after with a 7-5, 6-1 ranked win over No. 84 Richard Ciamarra.

Botzer continued the momentum for Wake Forest as he defeated Guillermo Cabrera at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 6-4.

A point from victory, the Deacs were forced to fight off a late Notre Dame rally. Wins at the No. 4 and 5 spots set up a winner-take-all match at the No. 6 position. Banthia, who took the opening set, 6-3, was pushed to a third set after dropping the second by a matching 6-3 score. The freshman was up 5-2 on Grayson Broadus before being pushed to a deciding tiebreaker. Leading 5-4, Banthia broke Broadus for a 6-4 lead before eventually serving out the 7-5 victory.

First serve in Saturday's semifinal is set for 10 a.m. at Cary Tennis Park. Saturday's match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra, with Shawn Kenney, Paul Torricelli and Melanie Newman on the call.