No. 16 Wake Forest Sweeps No. 42 Baylor for Third-Consecutive Victory

WACO, Texas - The 16th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team earned a 4-0 decision over defending Big 12 Champion, No. 42 Baylor Sunday at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.

The win marked the Demon Deacons' (18-6, 3-1 ACC) third-consecutive victory and their seventh win over a ranked opponent this season. Additionally, the Deacs improved to a perfect 3-0 in road matches with the win over the Bears (8-11, 0-0 Big 12).

Baylor came out strong in doubles play, taking the lead in first and second doubles through seven games. Wake Forest quickly weathered the storm as Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou earned a 6-3 decision in third doubles.

After the Bears took first doubles, all eyes turned to court two as Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi notched a narrow 7-6 (7-4) victory over Luc Koenig/Juampi Mazzuchi to secure the doubles point for Wake Forest.

Up 1-0 heading into singles, the Deacs took the opening set on 5/6 courts and never looked back en route to a perfect sweep in singles action to clinch the victory.

The Demon Deacons will look to add to their winning streak next weekend when they return home for a trio of matches against Louisville, Notre Dame and UNC Greensboro at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

How It Happened

Baylor took the lead in first and second doubles, taking control of the match early.
- No. 24 Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz owned a 5-3 lead over No. 30 Filippo Moroni/Juan Lopez de Azcona.
- Luc Koenig/Juampi Mazzuchi held a 4-3 advantage against Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi.
Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou gave the Deacs a 1-0 lead in doubles play as they earned a 6-3 decision in third doubles over Justin Braverman/Christopher Frantzen.
No. 24 Paroulek/Velcz defeated No. 30 Moroni/Lopez de Azcona in first doubles to even the ledger.
Karimov/Tacchi then notched a 7-6 (7-4) victory over Koenig/Mazzuchi, securing the doubles point for Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons came out strong to open singles play as the Deacs took the opening set on 5/6 courts.
- Lopez de Azcona was the first Deac to take a set as he quickly won the opening set in sixth singles, 6-1.
Lopez de Azcona gave Wake Forest a 2-0 lead as he defeated Koenig 6-1, 6-3 in sixth singles.
Shortly after, Tacchi notched a 6-2, 6-4 victory in fifth singles, extending the Demon Deacons' lead to 3-0.
Moroni closed out the contest as he battled back from a second set deficit to secure a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win in second singles over Velcz to clinch the victory for Wake Forest.
Prior to Moroni clinching the match, first, third and fourth singles were tightly contested but were left unfinished.
- No. 21 Efstathiou took the opening set in first singles against No. 98 Paroulek before dropping the second set.
- Thomson fell 7-5 in set one but battled back to tie set two, 4-4, in third singles.
- Karimov took set one in fourth singles, before dropping set two.
  - Karimov held a 2-1 lead in set three at the time of the clinch.
Wake Forest earned its third consecutive victory with the 4-0 sweep over the Bears.

Singles Results
1. #98 Tadeas Paroulek (BU) vs. #21 Melios Efstathiou (WFU) 5-7, 6-1, 0-0, unfinished
2. #122 Filippo Moroni (WFU) def. Zsombor Velcz (BU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
3. Marko Miladinovic (BU) vs. Matthew Thomson (WFU) 7-5, 4-4, unfinished
4. Juampi Mazzuchi (BU) vs. #117 Jurabek Karimov (WFU) 2-6, 6-3, 1-2, unfinished
5. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Ethan Muza (BU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Juan Lopez de Azcona (WFU) def. Luc Koenig (BU) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Results
1. #24 Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz (BU) def. #30 Juan Lopez de Azcona/Filippo Moroni (WFU) 7-6 (7-2)
2. Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Luc Koenig/Juampi Mazzuchi (BU) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou (WFU) def. Justin Braverman/Christopher Frantzen (BU) 6-3

From Coach Bresky
"This was a good trip, overall. We did a good job preparing and it showed today. Doubles play was close but we pulled it out, which gave us momentum heading into singles. We got off to an excellent start in singles, winning the opening set on 5/6 courts. I'm happy that we were able to get outdoors and get a quality win against a very good Baylor program." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Up Next
The Demon Deacons will return home next weekend for a trio of matches against Louisville, Notre Dame and UNC Greensboro at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

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No. 16 Wake Forest Sweeps No. 42 Baylor for Third-Consecutive Victory

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Melios Efstathiou

Jurabek Karimov

Juan Lopez de Azcona

Filippo Moroni

Luciano Tacchi

Matthew Thomson