Saturday, February 17
New York, N.Y.
6:30 p.m.
Wake Forest University
4
vs
2
#14 Arizona
No. 6 Seed Wake Forest Tops Arizona in Thriller to Advance to Semifinals of ITA National Team Indoor Championship
2/17/2024 10:43:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Demon Deacons will move on to face No. 2 TCU on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Sunday’s semifinal will be held at the Philip & Sheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.
NEW YORK – Behind another stellar showing in singles play, the sixth-seeded Wake Forest men's tennis team defeated No. 14 Arizona, 4-2, in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship Saturday at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in New York.
With the win, the Demon Deacons (9-2, 0-0 ACC) will move on to the semifinals to face No. 2 TCU on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The winner of Sunday's match between the Demon Deacons and the Horned Frogs will play for the indoor national championship on Monday at noon.
Semifinal Matchups
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Virginia
No. 2 TCU vs. No. 6 Wake Forest
Sunday's showdown between No. 2 TCU and No. 6 Wake Forest can be streamed via Cracked Racquets and live results can be found here.
With Saturday's quarterfinal win over No. 14 Arizona (6-2), Wake Forest advanced to the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship for the first time since 2019 when the Demon Deacons fell in the final to Ohio State. Of note, the Deacs won their lone indoor national title the previous year (2018).
2024 Lineup by the Numbers
(Doubles)
(Singles)
Wake Forest – Sustained Success (Last Seven Years)
How It Happened
Singles Results
1. #5 Colton Smith (ARIZONA) def. #23 Filippo Moroni (WF) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #49 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WF) vs. #43 Jay Friend (ARIZONA) 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 3-2, unfinished
3. Matthew Thomson (WF) def. #46 Gustaf Strom (ARIZONA) 6-3, 6-1
4. #116 Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZONA) def. Luciano Tacchi (WF) 6-3, 6-2
5. Holden Koons (WF) def. Inaki Cabrera-Bello (ARIZONA) 6-2, 6-2
6. Luca Pow (WF) def. Casper Christensen (ARIZONA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Doubles Results
1. #7 Holden Koons/DK Suresh Ekambaram (WF) def. #6 Colton Smith/Jay Friend (ARIZONA) 7-6 (11-9)
2. Filippo Moroni/Matthew Thomson (WF) def. Herman Hoeyeraal/Eric Padgham (ARIZONA) 7-6 (7-5)
3. #53 Sasha Rozin/Gustaf Strom (ARIZONA) def. Luca Pow/Luciano Tacchi (WF) 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,3,1,6)
From Coach Bresky
"We're excited to get through again. It's another part of the process. We knew Arizona would be tough. Doubles at this level comes down to a couple of breakers, and we were fortunate to get them. I think that gave us momentum heading into singles. We had some great performances by the three guys that won in straight sets. Obviously, we had some different guys win today than we did yesterday, but that's part of trying to be successful in a tournament like this. We're excited for another opportunity tomorrow." - Head coach Tony Bresky
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will now move on to face No. 2 TCU in the semifinals on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Of note, Sunday's match will be held at the Philip & Sheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.
Scouting TCU
No. 2 TCU enters Sunday's semifinal matchup unbeaten with a perfect 8-0 record. The Horned Frogs defeated No. 15 seed Arizona State and No. 10 seed Texas A&M en route to reaching the final four. Of note, the Horned Frogs are the reigning back-to-back (2022, 2023) ITA National Team Indoor Champions and are looking to three-peat.
Ranked Horned Frogs
Wake Forest owns a 3-6 ledger all-time against TCU; however, since the turn of the century (2000), the Demon Deacons are 3-2 against the Horned Frogs.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
With the win, the Demon Deacons (9-2, 0-0 ACC) will move on to the semifinals to face No. 2 TCU on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The winner of Sunday's match between the Demon Deacons and the Horned Frogs will play for the indoor national championship on Monday at noon.
Semifinal Matchups
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Virginia
No. 2 TCU vs. No. 6 Wake Forest
Sunday's showdown between No. 2 TCU and No. 6 Wake Forest can be streamed via Cracked Racquets and live results can be found here.
With Saturday's quarterfinal win over No. 14 Arizona (6-2), Wake Forest advanced to the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship for the first time since 2019 when the Demon Deacons fell in the final to Ohio State. Of note, the Deacs won their lone indoor national title the previous year (2018).
2024 Lineup by the Numbers
(Doubles)
| Name | Overall | 1 | 2 | 3 | Streak |
| No. 7 Suresh/Koons | 7-0 | 7-0 | – | – | W7 |
| Moroni/Thomson | 3-4 | – | 3-3 | 0-1 | W2 |
| Tacchi/Pow | 7-3 | – | 2-1 | 5-2 | L1 |
(Singles)
| Name | Overall | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Streak |
| No. 23 Filippo Moroni | 3-5 | 3-4 | 0-1 | – | – | – | – | L1 |
| No. 49 DK Suresh Ekambaram | 4-3 | 1-1 | 3-2 | – | – | – | – | W1 |
| Matthew Thomson | 5-4 | – | 2-0 | 2-3 | 1-1 | – | – | W1 |
| Luciano Tacchi | 6-3 | – | – | 2-2 | 3-1 | 1-0 | – | L1 |
| Holden Koons | 8-1 | – | 1-0 | – | 1-1 | 6-0 | – | W7 |
| Luca Pow | 9-2 | – | – | 1-0 | – | 2-0 | 6-2 | W3 |
Wake Forest – Sustained Success (Last Seven Years)
- NCAA Champions: 2018
- ACC Tournament Champions: 2016, 2018, 2019
- ACC Regular Season Champions: 2017, 2018, 2019
- ITA National Team Indoor Champions: 2018
- Arizona came out strong in doubles play, earning a 6-1 victory in the third slot.
- Meanwhile, first and second doubles both went into a tiebreaker.
- Filippo Moroni/Matthew Thomson evened the doubles ledger, defeating Herman Hoeyeraal/Eric Padgham, 7-6 (7-5), on court two.
- No. 7 DK Suresh Ekambaram/Holden Koons then secured the doubles point for Wake Forest, notching a 7-6 (11-9) win over No. 6 Colton Smith/Jay Friend.
- The Demon Deacons held a 1-0 lead entering singles play for the third-consecutive match.
- Wake Forest got off to a stellar start in singles action, winning the first set on four courts.
- Arizona tied it up with a win in fourth singles.
- Minutes later, Holden Koons defeated Inaki Cabrera-Bello (6-2, 6-2), giving the Demon Deacons a 2-1 lead.
- Koons now owns a seven match winning streak in dual singles matches.
- The Deacs then extended their advantage as Matthew Thomson earned a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 46 Gustaf Strom.
- Arizona pulled to within one with a win in first singles.
- Wake Forest then clinched the victory as Luca Pow held on to defeat Casper Christensen in straight sets, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
- No. 49 DK Suresh Ekambaram held a 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 3-2 lead over No. 43 Jay Friend of Arizona at the time of the clinch.
- The Demon Deacons defeated the Wildcats, 4-2, to advance to the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Singles Results
1. #5 Colton Smith (ARIZONA) def. #23 Filippo Moroni (WF) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #49 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WF) vs. #43 Jay Friend (ARIZONA) 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 3-2, unfinished
3. Matthew Thomson (WF) def. #46 Gustaf Strom (ARIZONA) 6-3, 6-1
4. #116 Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZONA) def. Luciano Tacchi (WF) 6-3, 6-2
5. Holden Koons (WF) def. Inaki Cabrera-Bello (ARIZONA) 6-2, 6-2
6. Luca Pow (WF) def. Casper Christensen (ARIZONA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Doubles Results
1. #7 Holden Koons/DK Suresh Ekambaram (WF) def. #6 Colton Smith/Jay Friend (ARIZONA) 7-6 (11-9)
2. Filippo Moroni/Matthew Thomson (WF) def. Herman Hoeyeraal/Eric Padgham (ARIZONA) 7-6 (7-5)
3. #53 Sasha Rozin/Gustaf Strom (ARIZONA) def. Luca Pow/Luciano Tacchi (WF) 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,5,3,1,6)
From Coach Bresky
"We're excited to get through again. It's another part of the process. We knew Arizona would be tough. Doubles at this level comes down to a couple of breakers, and we were fortunate to get them. I think that gave us momentum heading into singles. We had some great performances by the three guys that won in straight sets. Obviously, we had some different guys win today than we did yesterday, but that's part of trying to be successful in a tournament like this. We're excited for another opportunity tomorrow." - Head coach Tony Bresky
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will now move on to face No. 2 TCU in the semifinals on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Of note, Sunday's match will be held at the Philip & Sheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.
Scouting TCU
No. 2 TCU enters Sunday's semifinal matchup unbeaten with a perfect 8-0 record. The Horned Frogs defeated No. 15 seed Arizona State and No. 10 seed Texas A&M en route to reaching the final four. Of note, the Horned Frogs are the reigning back-to-back (2022, 2023) ITA National Team Indoor Champions and are looking to three-peat.
Ranked Horned Frogs
- Singles
- No. 4 - Jack Pinnington
- No. 20 - Pedro Vives
- No. 39 - Sebastian Gorzny
- No. 62 - Jack Fearnley
- Doubles
- No. 8 - Sebastian Gorzny/Pedro Vives
- No. 20 - Duncan Chan/Lui Maxted
Wake Forest owns a 3-6 ledger all-time against TCU; however, since the turn of the century (2000), the Demon Deacons are 3-2 against the Horned Frogs.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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