No. 10 Wake Forest Hosts ITA Kickoff Weekend

Friday, January 27

Winston-Salem, N.C.

5:00 P.M.

Wake Forest University

#23 Auburn

1/26/2023 5:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis

The Deacs will welcome No. 19 Duke, No. 23 Auburn and Middle Tennessee to Winston-Salem for the annual tournament.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following a victory over then sixth-ranked Tennessee on Sunday, the 10th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team will return to action this weekend hosting ITA Kickoff Weekend inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.

The Deacs will take on No. 23 Auburn Friday, with the winner moving on to face the winner of No. 19 Duke and Middle Tennessee on Saturday. The losers of both matches will square off on Saturday in a consolation match.

The showdown between No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 23 Auburn is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, while the clash between No. 19 Duke and Middle Tennessee will take place at 1:00 p.m.

The winner of Saturday's championship match will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, held Feb. 17-20 in Chicago, Ill.

Match Schedule

Friday, Jan. 27
- 1:00 p.m. - No. 19 Duke vs. Middle Tennessee
- 5:00 p.m. - No. 10 Wake Forest vs. No. 23 Auburn
Saturday, Jan. 28
- 1:00 p.m. - Consolation Match
- 5:00 p.m. - Championship Match

How To Follow
The live stream for all 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 front of a raucous crowd inside the Indoor Tennis Center, Wake Forest downed Tennessee (4-3) and in-state foe Queens (5-2) Sunday to remain undefeated to start the 2023 campaign.

182 spectators packed into the Indoor Tennis Center to witness the highly-anticipated top-15 showdown between the Demon Deacons and the then sixth-ranked Volunteers. Sunday's contest marked Wake Forest's most attended match since last season's 4-2 victory over No. 19 Duke.

Of note, the Demon Deacons earned their 14th top-25 win in the past three seasons with the victory over the Volunteers. Additionally, Wake Forest has now won 32-consecutive home matches, dating back to last season.

After trailing 3-2 with just two courts still in play, junior Luciano Tacchi and graduate student Jurabek Karimov earned theatric singles victories on Courts 3 and 4 to capture the Deacs' fifth win of the season. With Sunday's result, the Demon Deacons have now won five of their last six matches against the Volunteers.

Against Queens, Wake Forest earned the doubles point and collected four of the six singles points en route to a 5-2 decision over the Royals. Sunday's win against Queens improved the Deacs to 13-0 against schools in the state of North Carolina since the beginning of the 2022 campaign.

Head coach Tony Bresky surpassed Jim Leighton as the winningest coach in Wake Forest history with Sunday's 4-3 victory over Tennessee.

The Matchup - No. 23 Auburn
Auburn enters Friday's showdown with a 3-0 mark this season including a 4-3 win over Michigan State.

The Tigers have logged consecutive 7-0 shutouts over their last two matches. Freshman Billy Blaydes went a perfect 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles through Auburn's first three dual matches of the season while senior Jan Galka went 2-0 in both singles and doubles play in Auburn's first three matches.

Ranked Tigers
Singles
#66 – Tyler Stice
#110 – Will Nolan

Friday will mark the 10th meeting between the Demon Deacons and the Tigers as Wake Forest owns a 4-5 record all-time. Of note, the Deacs defeated Auburn 4-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

The Potential Matchup - No. 19 Duke
After finishing their home-opening weekend with a 2-1 record, the Blue Devils climbed to No. 19 in the latest ITA Coaches Poll.

Duke has earned wins over Memphis and NC Central this season. The Blue Devils return eight from a year ago, while adding two freshmen.

Ranked Blue Devils
Singles
#4 – Garrett Johns
#84 – Pedro Rodenas
#101 – Andrew Zhang

Doubles
#49 – Michael Heller/Andrew Zhang

Wake Forest is currently on an eight-match winning streak against Duke. The Blue Devils last win in the series was on March 22, 2015.

The Potential Matchup - Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee owns a 2-1 record this season including wins over Michigan State and Indiana.

The Blue Raiders return four from a season ago including the reigning Conference USA Player of the Year, Stijn Slump.

Ranked Blue Devils
Singles
#60 – Oskar Brostrom Poulsen
#109 – Francisco Rocha

Doubles
#26 – Oskar Brostrom Poulsen/Francisco Rocha

Wake Forest owns a 1-4 record against Middle Tennessee all-time with the last meeting taking place in 1999.

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.

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