Friday, January 20
Winston-Salem, N.C.
3:30 P.M.
Wake Forest University
vs
Radford
No. 14 Wake Forest Looks to Remain Unbeaten With Four Key Matchups Ahead
1/19/2023 12:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Deacs will welcome No. 6 Tennessee in hopes of avenging a 4-3 loss to the Volunteers a season ago. Additionally, the Demon Deacons will look to remain unbeaten at home since the start of the 2022 campaign.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Highlighted by a top-15 showdown with No. 6 Tennessee on Sunday, the 14th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team will return to action this weekend hosting a total of four matches inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.
The Deacs will take on Radford for a double-header on Friday, before welcoming the sixth-ranked Volunteers and in state foe Queens on Sunday. The matches against Radford are slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., while the matches against Tennessee and Queens will begin at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
Wake Forest boasts a 107-4 record at home since the start of the 2016-17 season. Of note, the Demon Deacons have accumulated a 28-0 mark at home dating back to last season.
Additionally, Wake Forest is 42-12 in non-conference action over the past three years.
Match Schedule
The live stream for both matches will be provided via Playsight, while the live stats can be found here.
Fan Information
Wake Forest Athletics is committed to providing the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina within a safe and fan-friendly environment.
Admission to all Wake Forest tennis matches are free of charge.
Last Time Out
In its first matches of the 2023 campaign, No. 14 Wake Forest collected a pair of victories over Tennessee Tech (7-0) and Elon (6-1) Monday inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons swept singles action for the day en route to their 20th 2-0 start in the past 23 seasons.
Against Tennessee Tech, the pairing of No. 30 Filippo Moroni/Juan Lopez de Azcona clinched the doubles point early for Wake Forest as the Golden Eagles immediately forfeited third doubles. In singles action, the Demon Deacons picked up victories on Courts 1-4, while earning a point on Court 5 as a result of an early retirement. Additionally, the Deacs captured another point due to a Tennessee Tech forfeit on Court 6.
After dropping the doubles point to Elon to start its second match of the day, Wake Forest stormed back to secure a 6-1 decision over the Phoenix behind a sweep in singles play. The Demon Deacons opened singles action with consecutive victories from freshman Božo Barun and senior Matthew Thomson. Shortly after, senior Melios Efstathiou and junior Filippo Moroni earned wins on Courts 1 and 2 to clinch the contest for Wake Forest. The two sides played out the remainder of the match, resulting in a 6-1 decision for the Demon Deacons.
The Matchup - Radford
Friday's double-header will mark the beginning of the highly-anticipated 2023 slate for Radford as the Highlanders were picked to finish second in the Big South's 2023 preseason poll.
The reigning Big South tournament champions owned a 14-8 record last season and narrowly missed a perfect conference record going 6-1 in the Big South. The team placed second in the regular season standings and went on to defeat the regular season champions Campbell 4-3 in the Big South Championship.
This season, the Highlanders return 2022 Big South Player of the Year Demis Taramonlis along with fellow senior Dinos Raptis.
Friday will mark only the second and third time the two sides have faced off as Wake Forest owns a 1-0 record against the Highlanders all-time with the only matchup coming during the 1994 season.
The Matchup - No. 6 Tennessee
Wake Forest will take on last season's Southeastern Conference (SEC) runner-up and NCAA semifinalist Tennessee in a long-awaited top-15 matchup Sunday.
This season, the Volunteers own a 4-0 mark, including victories over Texas Tech and Charlotte. Coming into Sunday's matchup, the Vols have won all but one singles match this season, outscoring their opponents 24-1 through four contests.
Ranked Volunteers
Singles
#59 – Shunsuke Mitsui
#81 – Emile Hudd
#86 – Blaise Bicknell
Doubles
#25 – Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui
A season ago, Tennessee went 26-8 overall and fell in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament to eventual National Champion Virginia. The Vols return a veteran group as seven of Tennessee's nine roster spots are filled by either a graduate student or a senior.
Of note, Tennessee defeated Wake Forest in a narrow 4-3 decision last season. All-time, Wake Forest holds a 5-13 record against the Volunteers.
The Matchup - Queens
In its first year as an NCAA Division I program, Queens owns an 0-2 mark with losses to James Madison and Virginia Tech.
Last season, Queens posted a 15-5 record while facing a schedule mostly of NCAA Division II programs. Of note, the Royals claimed their fourth conference tournament title and made their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance a season ago.
Coming into the 2023 campaign, Queens was picked to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the 2023 ASUN Conference preseason poll. The Royals return 2022 SAC Player of the Year Edoardo Bottino after he posted a 12-5 dual record and 10-1 mark in league play last year.
Of note, the Demon Deacons will face off with Queens for a second time this season on Feb. 12.
2023 Season Outlook
Wake Forest returns nine Demon Deacons from a season ago, including 2022 All-ACC second team honoree Melios Efstathiou and 2022 All-ACC third team selections Jurabek Karimov and Filippo Moroni.
Efstathiou, a product of Limassol, Cyprus, logged a 16-7 dual singles record last spring. He has collected a total of 76-career singles wins. Efstathiou posted a stellar 13-5 (5-1 ACC) record at No. 2 and 3 singles last season, including a 3-2 record at the No. 1 position. Overall, Efstathiou is 76-31 in singles action since joining the Deacs.
In his first season in Winston-Salem, Karimov's road to third-team All-ACC a season ago included a 6-12 (2-3 ACC) dual singles record. The Tashkent, Uzbekistan logged three ranked wins. In doubles competition, Karimov has posted a 6-2 (4-1 ACC) mark in dual matches.
Moroni posted an 11-3 mark in dual matches and reached the NCAA Singles Championships Round of 32 during the 2022 campaign. Of note, Moroni earned two ranked wins and clinched four matches with the Demon Deacons last season.
Sustained Success
Wake Forest has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past nine seasons, including the 2018 season in which the Demon Deacons won the program's first ever NCAA Championship.
Since head coach Tony Bresky took over the program in 2012, the Deacs have accumulated 31 All-ACC honors. Of note, five Demon Deacons earned All-ACC honors last season, marking the most in a single season in program history.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
The Deacs will take on Radford for a double-header on Friday, before welcoming the sixth-ranked Volunteers and in state foe Queens on Sunday. The matches against Radford are slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., while the matches against Tennessee and Queens will begin at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.
Wake Forest boasts a 107-4 record at home since the start of the 2016-17 season. Of note, the Demon Deacons have accumulated a 28-0 mark at home dating back to last season.
Additionally, Wake Forest is 42-12 in non-conference action over the past three years.
Match Schedule
- Friday, Jan. 20
- 3:30 p.m. - vs. Radford
- 6:30 p.m. - vs. Radford
- Sunday, Jan. 22
- 1 p.m. - vs. No. 6 Tennessee
- 5 p.m. - vs. Queens
The live stream for both matches will be provided via Playsight, while the live stats can be found here.
Fan Information
Wake Forest Athletics is committed to providing the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina within a safe and fan-friendly environment.
Admission to all Wake Forest tennis matches are free of charge.
Last Time Out
In its first matches of the 2023 campaign, No. 14 Wake Forest collected a pair of victories over Tennessee Tech (7-0) and Elon (6-1) Monday inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons swept singles action for the day en route to their 20th 2-0 start in the past 23 seasons.
Against Tennessee Tech, the pairing of No. 30 Filippo Moroni/Juan Lopez de Azcona clinched the doubles point early for Wake Forest as the Golden Eagles immediately forfeited third doubles. In singles action, the Demon Deacons picked up victories on Courts 1-4, while earning a point on Court 5 as a result of an early retirement. Additionally, the Deacs captured another point due to a Tennessee Tech forfeit on Court 6.
After dropping the doubles point to Elon to start its second match of the day, Wake Forest stormed back to secure a 6-1 decision over the Phoenix behind a sweep in singles play. The Demon Deacons opened singles action with consecutive victories from freshman Božo Barun and senior Matthew Thomson. Shortly after, senior Melios Efstathiou and junior Filippo Moroni earned wins on Courts 1 and 2 to clinch the contest for Wake Forest. The two sides played out the remainder of the match, resulting in a 6-1 decision for the Demon Deacons.
The Matchup - Radford
Friday's double-header will mark the beginning of the highly-anticipated 2023 slate for Radford as the Highlanders were picked to finish second in the Big South's 2023 preseason poll.
The reigning Big South tournament champions owned a 14-8 record last season and narrowly missed a perfect conference record going 6-1 in the Big South. The team placed second in the regular season standings and went on to defeat the regular season champions Campbell 4-3 in the Big South Championship.
This season, the Highlanders return 2022 Big South Player of the Year Demis Taramonlis along with fellow senior Dinos Raptis.
Friday will mark only the second and third time the two sides have faced off as Wake Forest owns a 1-0 record against the Highlanders all-time with the only matchup coming during the 1994 season.
The Matchup - No. 6 Tennessee
Wake Forest will take on last season's Southeastern Conference (SEC) runner-up and NCAA semifinalist Tennessee in a long-awaited top-15 matchup Sunday.
This season, the Volunteers own a 4-0 mark, including victories over Texas Tech and Charlotte. Coming into Sunday's matchup, the Vols have won all but one singles match this season, outscoring their opponents 24-1 through four contests.
Ranked Volunteers
Singles
#59 – Shunsuke Mitsui
#81 – Emile Hudd
#86 – Blaise Bicknell
Doubles
#25 – Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui
A season ago, Tennessee went 26-8 overall and fell in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament to eventual National Champion Virginia. The Vols return a veteran group as seven of Tennessee's nine roster spots are filled by either a graduate student or a senior.
Of note, Tennessee defeated Wake Forest in a narrow 4-3 decision last season. All-time, Wake Forest holds a 5-13 record against the Volunteers.
The Matchup - Queens
In its first year as an NCAA Division I program, Queens owns an 0-2 mark with losses to James Madison and Virginia Tech.
Last season, Queens posted a 15-5 record while facing a schedule mostly of NCAA Division II programs. Of note, the Royals claimed their fourth conference tournament title and made their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance a season ago.
Coming into the 2023 campaign, Queens was picked to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the 2023 ASUN Conference preseason poll. The Royals return 2022 SAC Player of the Year Edoardo Bottino after he posted a 12-5 dual record and 10-1 mark in league play last year.
Of note, the Demon Deacons will face off with Queens for a second time this season on Feb. 12.
2023 Season Outlook
Wake Forest returns nine Demon Deacons from a season ago, including 2022 All-ACC second team honoree Melios Efstathiou and 2022 All-ACC third team selections Jurabek Karimov and Filippo Moroni.
Efstathiou, a product of Limassol, Cyprus, logged a 16-7 dual singles record last spring. He has collected a total of 76-career singles wins. Efstathiou posted a stellar 13-5 (5-1 ACC) record at No. 2 and 3 singles last season, including a 3-2 record at the No. 1 position. Overall, Efstathiou is 76-31 in singles action since joining the Deacs.
In his first season in Winston-Salem, Karimov's road to third-team All-ACC a season ago included a 6-12 (2-3 ACC) dual singles record. The Tashkent, Uzbekistan logged three ranked wins. In doubles competition, Karimov has posted a 6-2 (4-1 ACC) mark in dual matches.
Moroni posted an 11-3 mark in dual matches and reached the NCAA Singles Championships Round of 32 during the 2022 campaign. Of note, Moroni earned two ranked wins and clinched four matches with the Demon Deacons last season.
Sustained Success
Wake Forest has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past nine seasons, including the 2018 season in which the Demon Deacons won the program's first ever NCAA Championship.
Since head coach Tony Bresky took over the program in 2012, the Deacs have accumulated 31 All-ACC honors. Of note, five Demon Deacons earned All-ACC honors last season, marking the most in a single season in program history.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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