Wake Forest's Upset Bid Falls Short at No. 1 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Despite winning the doubles point and grabbing victories on courts three and five in singles play, the No. 10 Wake Forest men's tennis team's upset bid fell just short at No. 1 Tennessee, 4-3, on Sunday at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

The loss is the first for Wake Forest (7-1) when winning the doubles point this year and marked Tennnssee's' (4-0) second-straight 4-3 victory over a ranked opponent.

After Melios Efstathiou tied the match at 3-3, No. 75 Filippo Moroni forced a third set and battled in a barn burner with No. 51 Emile Hudd. Hudd would eventually take it in tiebreaker, 6-4, 3-6. 7-6 (4) to clinch the match.

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How It Happened
Wake Forest fell behind early in doubles play as Tennessee collected a win on court two. Jakob Schaitter and Siddhant Banthia found themselves down 2-5 on court one before completing the come-from-behind victory in tiebreaker, 7-6 (1).

With one a piece, redshirt-junior Robert Maciag and graduate Ben Draper earned the Demon Deacon early advantage with a 7-6 (5) clinch.

The victories gave Wake Forest the early 1-0 lead, heading into singles action.

In singles play, Tennessee quickly evened things up with a win from No. 10 Johannus Monday over Jurabek Karimov at No. 2.

Taha Baadi almost immediately regained Wake Forest's lead with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Angel Diaz on court five.

Tennessee once again evened things up following No. 39 Adam Walton's, 6-3, 6-1, win over senior Eduardo Nava on court one.

The Vols regained the lead again, downing No. 85 Jakob Schnaitter, 7-5, 6-3 at No. 6 to put Tennessee up 3-2 and on the brink of clinching match point.

Senior Efstathiou gave the Demon Deacons life with a dominant performance over Martim Prata at No. 3, 6-3, 6-3.

Tennessee proceeded to grab the three-set tiebreaker victory on court four to clinch a hard-fought match point at, 4-3.

Singles Results
1. #39 Adam Walton (UT) def. Eduardo Nava (WF) 6-3, 6-1
2. #10 Johannus Monday (UT) def. Jurabek Karimov (WF) 6-1, 6-1
3. Melios Efstathiou (WF) def. Martim Prata (UT) 6-3, 6-3
4. #51 Emile Hudd (UT) def. #75 Filippo Moroni (WF) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
5. #100 Taha Baadi (WF) def. Angel Diaz (UT) 6-3, 6-0
6. #125 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. #85 Jakob Schnaitter (WF) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles Results
1. #19 Jakob Schnaitter/Siddhant Banthia (WF) def. Adam Walton/Pat Harper (UT) 7-6 (1)
2. #6 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Eduardo Nava/Jurabek Karimov (WF) 6-1
3. Robert Maciag/Ben Draper (WF) def. Johannus Monday/Martim Prata (UT) 7-6 (5)

Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,5,1,6,3,4)

Up Next
Wake Forest's next action will come at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28-29 at the Indoor Tennis Center in Winston-Salem. The Deacs will take on No. 17 Michigan on Friday and either Notre Dame and SMU on Saturday.

The team to go undefeated on the weekend will secure a spot in the ITA Indoor National Championships, scheduled for Feb. 18-21 in Seattle, Wash.

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Wake Forest's Upset Bid Falls Short at No. 1 Tennessee

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Taha Baadi

Siddhant Banthia

Ben Draper

Melios Efstathiou

Jurabek Karimov

Robert Maciag

Filippo Moroni

Eduardo Nava

Jakob Schnaitter