No. 14 Wake Forest Sweeps Radford in Double-Header

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Behind a perfect 9-0 record in singles action, the 14th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team earned consecutive sweeps over Radford Friday inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons (4-0, 0-0 ACC) swept the Highlanders (0-2, 0-0 Big South) in back-to-back matches en route to their second-consecutive 4-0 start. Of note, the Deacs have now won 30-straight home matches, dating back to last season.

Additionally, the Deacs improved their home record to 109-4 since the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign.

Starting up the first contest against Radford, the duo of Melios Efstathiou and Matthew Thomson secured a 6-2 decision on Court 3 before Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi earned a 6-1 victory on Court 2 to capture the doubles point for Wake Forest.

Filippo Moroni earned the Deacs' first singles win as he picked up an impressive victory on Court 1. Shortly after, Tacchi and Efstathiou earned wins on Courts 2 and 4 to clinch the match for Wake Forest; however, the two sides played out the remainder of the contest. With the victory already secured, Thomson, Karimov and Juan Lopez de Azcona all went on to win their singles matches, earning Wake Forest the 7-0 decision.

After earning a 7-0 victory over the Highlanders in the first contest of the day, Wake Forest came out aggressive in the second match as the Deacs quickly earned the doubles point behind a 6-0 sweep from Efstathiou/Thomson and 6-1 victory from Karimov/Tacchi.

In singles action, the Deacs reeled off three wins quickly as Efstathiou, Thomson and de Azcona combined to relinquish only four games en route to a 4-0 sweep over Radford in the second contest of the day.

With the two victories Friday, Wake Forest improved its non-conference record to an impressive 44-12 over the past three seasons.

The Demon Deacons will return to action Sunday when the Deacs host No. 6 Tennessee at 1 p.m., followed by Queens at 5 p.m., inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.

How It Happened (Radford - Match 1)

Melios Efstathiou/Matthew Thomson were the first doubles pair to clinch a match as they upended Robert Hagen/Charles Courteau of Radford, 6-2.
Shortly after, Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi notched a 6-1 decision over Aditya Balsekar/Guilherme Severin of Radford to secure the doubles point for Wake Forest.
Filippo Moroni earned a victory on Court 1 to clinch the first singles point of the day as he defeated Demis Taramonlis.
- Moroni is now 14-3 over the past two seasons in duals singles action.
Minutes later, on Court 2, Luciano Tacchi defeated Guilherme Severin, 6-1, 6-4.
- Melios Efstathiou then sealed the victory for Wake Forest as he impressively defeated Aditya Balsekar on Court 2.
Matthew Thomson spent little time securing his win on Court 6 as he only dropped one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 win.
After narrowly notching a victory in the first set against his opponent, Jurabek Karimov earned an impressive 6-1 victory in set two to give the Deacs a 6-0 lead.
Juan Lopez de Azcona enjoyed a successful first set as he tallied a 6-1 victory over his opponent.
- The match was unable to continue as his opponent was forced to retire due to injury.
Wake Forest earned the 7-0 win for its third-consecutive sweep.

How It Happened (Radford - Match 2)

The duo of Efstathiou/Thomson quickly earned a 6-0 win on Court 3 to start the match.
Wake Forest then secured the doubles point as Karimov/Tacchi defeated Taramonlis/ Raptis on Court 1.
In singles play, Lopez de Azcona earned a 6-0, 6-0 win on Court 5 before Efstathiou earned a 6-0, 6-1 win on Court 1 to pull the Deacs within one point of clinching the set victory.
- The second contest against Radford on Friday marked the first time this season Wake Forest has yet to play out a match after earning the victory.
Just one point shy of becoming 4-0 for the second-consecutive season, Wake Forest captured a win on Court 4 as Thomson defeated Severin 6-1, 6-2.
At the time that Wake Forest clinched the match, Tacchi was only two games away from defeating his opponent, while Moroni earned a 6-3 win in set one before jumping out to a 3-2 lead in set two.
Vikas Deo saw his first action of the season as he squared off with Charles Courteau on Court 6 but was unable to complete the match.
The Deacs captured the 4-0 decision to advance to 4-0 on the year.

Singles Results (Radford - Match 1)
1. Filippo Moroni (WFU) def. Demis Taramonlis (RADM) 6-2, 6-1
2. Melios Efstathiou (WFU) def. Aditya Balsekar (RADM) 6-3, 6-2
3. Jurabek Karimov (WFU) def. Konstantinos Raptis (RADM) 7-6 (9-7), 6-1
4. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Guilherme Severin (RADM) 6-1, 6-4
5. Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) def. Robert Hagen (RADM) 6-1, retired
6. Matthew Thomson (WFU) def. Filippo Marangoni (RADM) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles Results (Radford - Match 1)
1. Juan Lopez de Azcona/Filippo Moroni (WFU) vs. Demis Taramonlis/Konstantinos Raptis (RADM) unfinished
2. Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Aditya Balsekar/Guilherme Severin (RADM) 6-1
3. Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou (WFU) def. Robert Hagen/Charles Courteau (RADM) 6-2

Singles Results (Radford - Match 2)
1. Melios Efstathiou (WFU) def. Demis Taramonlis (RADM) 6-0, 6-1
2. Filippo Moroni (WFU) vs. Konstantinos Raptis (RADM) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
3. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) vs. Aditya Balsekar (RADM) 6-4, 4-0, unfinished
4. Matthew Thomson (WFU) def. Guilherme Severin (RADM) 6-1, 6-2
5. Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) def. Filippo Marangoni (RADM) 6-0, 6-0
6. Charles Courteau (RADM) vs. Vikas Deo (WFU) no result

Doubles Results (Radford - Match 2)
1. Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Demis Taramonlis/Konstantinos Raptis (RADM) 6-2
2. Filippo Moroni/Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) vs. Aditya Balsekar/Guilherme Severin (RADM) 5-3, unfinished
3. Melios Efstathiou/Matthew Thomson (WFU) def. Charles Courteau /Filippo Marangoni (RADM) 6-0

From Coach Bresky
"Today was another great day, which was evident in the results. We spent significant time working on doubles this week, so I'm glad that paid off. The guys were motivated today. Radford was a really good team that we played in the NCAA Tournament last season. They won the Big South a year ago, so this is a good win for us. Overall, today was an outstanding effort across the board and I'm proud of the guys. We're looking forward to Sunday as we host another double-header at home." - Coach Tony Bresky

Up Next
Wake Forest will return to action Sunday when the Demon Deacons host No. 6 Tennessee at 1 p.m., followed by Queens at 5 p.m., inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Vikas Deo

Melios Efstathiou

Jurabek Karimov

Juan Lopez de Azcona

Filippo Moroni

Luciano Tacchi

Matthew Thomson