Saturday, January 28
Winston-Salem, N.C.
5:00 P.M.
Wake Forest University
4
vs
2
Middle Tennessee
No. 10 Wake Forest Advances to ITA National Indoor Championship
1/28/2023 8:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Deacs punched their ticket to the annual tournament for the second-consecutive season with a win over Middle Tennessee.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In front of an energetic home crowd, with a berth to the ITA National Indoor Championship on the line, the 10th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team defeated Middle Tennessee, 4-2, Saturday night inside the Indoor Tennis Center at Wake Forest.
With Saturday's victory, the Demon Deacons (8-0, 0-0 ACC) advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championship, held Feb. 17-20 in Chicago, Ill.
Saturday's win over Middle Tennessee (3-2, 0-0 C-USA) marked Wake Forest's 34th-consecutive home win, spanning over the last two seasons. Of note, the Demon Deacons' 8-0 start to the 2023 campaign is the best start since 2018 when the program won its first ever national championship.
Saturday, the Deacs secured the doubles point with wins from Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou and Luciano Tacchi/Jurabek Karimov, which proved to be crucial as the teams headed into a tightly-contested singles clash.
Thomson recorded the first win of singles play on Court 5 to give the Deacs a 2-0 lead before Fillippo Moroni and Juan Lopez de Azcona closed it out on Courts 1 and 6, respectively.
Of note, the Demon Deacons will head to the ITA National Indoor Championship for the second-consecutive season following last season's quarterfinal appearance.
Wake Forest will return to action next Saturday when the Demon Deacons host Campbell and South Carolina State for a double-header inside the Indoor Tennis Center.
How It Happened
Singles Results
1. Filippo Moroni (WFU) def. Stijn Slump (MTSU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
2. Melios Efstathiou (WFU) vs. Francisco Rocha (MTSU) 1-6, 6-6, unfinished
3. Oskar Poulsen (MTSU) def. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Ondrej Horak (MTSU) def. Jurabek Karimov (WFU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Matthew Thomson (WFU) def. Marcel Kamrowski (MTSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) def. Pavel Motl (MTSU) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles Results
1. Francisco Rocha/Oskar Poulsen (MTSU) def. Filippo Moroni/Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) 6-7
2. Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Stijn Slump/Pavel Motl (MTSU) 6-2
3. Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou (WFU) def. Ondrej Horak/Marcel Kamrowski (MTSU) 7-5 (7-5)
From Coach Bresky
"We're excited to go to Indoors. That's one of our goals. Middle Tennessee played a really good match. We were doing well in doubles and it turned quickly. Then, for a minute there, it looked like we were going to drop the doubles point but the boys battled back. In singles, we did some good things but there were some spots where we didn't play our best. That could also be attributed to Middle Tennessee playing well. Overall, I thought we did a great job of keeping our composure. We're excited for another opportunity. " - Coach Tony Bresky
Up Next
Wake Forest will return to action next Saturday when the Demon Deacons host Campbell and South Carolina State for a double-header inside the Indoor Tennis Center.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
With Saturday's victory, the Demon Deacons (8-0, 0-0 ACC) advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championship, held Feb. 17-20 in Chicago, Ill.
Saturday's win over Middle Tennessee (3-2, 0-0 C-USA) marked Wake Forest's 34th-consecutive home win, spanning over the last two seasons. Of note, the Demon Deacons' 8-0 start to the 2023 campaign is the best start since 2018 when the program won its first ever national championship.
Saturday, the Deacs secured the doubles point with wins from Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou and Luciano Tacchi/Jurabek Karimov, which proved to be crucial as the teams headed into a tightly-contested singles clash.
Thomson recorded the first win of singles play on Court 5 to give the Deacs a 2-0 lead before Fillippo Moroni and Juan Lopez de Azcona closed it out on Courts 1 and 6, respectively.
Of note, the Demon Deacons will head to the ITA National Indoor Championship for the second-consecutive season following last season's quarterfinal appearance.
Wake Forest will return to action next Saturday when the Demon Deacons host Campbell and South Carolina State for a double-header inside the Indoor Tennis Center.
How It Happened
- Wake Forest picked up the first match victory of the day as Tacchi/Karimov earned a 6-2 win on Court 2 and gave the Deacs a 1-0 advantage in doubles.
- Thomson/Efstathiou picked up a thrilling 7-6 (7-5 tiebreak) win on Court 3 to secure the doubles point.
- The pair trailed 0-4 to open the tiebreaker before storming back to claim the victory.
- A trio of Deacs opened singles play strong as Thomson (Court 5), Moroni (Court 1) and Lopez de Azcona (Court 6) all took the first set in impressive fashion.
- Thomson picked up the first singles victory of the evening with a 6-3, 6-4 decision on Court 5.
- Moroni brought the Deacs to within one point of clinching after a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 victory on Court 1.
- Despite dropping third and fourth singles, Wake Forest held a 3-2 match lead with two courts still in play.
- Lopez de Azcona booked the Demon Deacons a spot in the ITA Indoor National Championship with a 7-5, 6-4 victory on Court 6 to win Wake Forest the match by a score of 4-2.
Singles Results
1. Filippo Moroni (WFU) def. Stijn Slump (MTSU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
2. Melios Efstathiou (WFU) vs. Francisco Rocha (MTSU) 1-6, 6-6, unfinished
3. Oskar Poulsen (MTSU) def. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Ondrej Horak (MTSU) def. Jurabek Karimov (WFU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Matthew Thomson (WFU) def. Marcel Kamrowski (MTSU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) def. Pavel Motl (MTSU) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles Results
1. Francisco Rocha/Oskar Poulsen (MTSU) def. Filippo Moroni/Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) 6-7
2. Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Stijn Slump/Pavel Motl (MTSU) 6-2
3. Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou (WFU) def. Ondrej Horak/Marcel Kamrowski (MTSU) 7-5 (7-5)
From Coach Bresky
"We're excited to go to Indoors. That's one of our goals. Middle Tennessee played a really good match. We were doing well in doubles and it turned quickly. Then, for a minute there, it looked like we were going to drop the doubles point but the boys battled back. In singles, we did some good things but there were some spots where we didn't play our best. That could also be attributed to Middle Tennessee playing well. Overall, I thought we did a great job of keeping our composure. We're excited for another opportunity. " - Coach Tony Bresky
Up Next
Wake Forest will return to action next Saturday when the Demon Deacons host Campbell and South Carolina State for a double-header inside the Indoor Tennis Center.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
#1 Singles Match
123
Stijn Slump / 0 [MTSU]
461
616
#2 Singles Match
123
Francisco Rocha / 0 [MTSU]
660
16UF
#3 Singles Match
12
O. Brostrom Poulsen / 0 [MTSU]
67
46
#4 Singles Match
123
Ondrej Horak / 0 [MTSU]
677
355
#5 Singles Match
12
Marcel Kamrowski / 0 [MTSU]
34
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Pavel Motl / 0 [MTSU]
54
76
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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