No. 4 Wake Forest Storms Back to Down No. 19 Baylor, 5-2

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C – After dropping the doubles point for only the fourth time this season, the No. 4-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team roared back to defeat No. 19 Baylor, 5-2, Saturday evening at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

With the victory, the Demon Deacons (15-4, 3-1 ACC) remained perfect at home this season, while extending their winning streak against Baylor to three. Additionally, Saturday marked the Deacs' sixth top-20 victory of the season.

Wake Forest dropped the doubles point for only the fourth time this season after suffering losses in first and second doubles, respectively. Of note, No. 1 DK Suresh Ekambaram/Holden Koons dropped their first dual doubles match of the season. The loss also marked the first dual doubles loss of Suresh Ekambaram's collegiate career.

Facing a 1-0 deficit entering singles play, Wake Forest took five of six singles courts, highlighted by No. 90 Suresh Ekambaram's come-from-behind (2-6, 6-4, 6-3) win over No. 59 Tadeas Paroulek. The victory marked his team-high fourth win over a ranked opponent this season. Additionally, it marked his second top-60 win over the last eight days.

With his 7-5, 6-2 victory on court five, Luca Pow now has a team-high 15 victories to just two loses, including a perfect 7-0 mark in fifth singles. He has now won nine-consecutive matches, the longest streak on the team.

How It Happened

Baylor came out strong in doubles play, taking the lead on two courts.
- The Bears would go on to win courts one and two and secured the 1-0 advantage heading into singles.
- Tacchi/Pow earned their 10th doubles victory of the season together on court three (6-2).
In singles, the Demon Deacons took the first set on courts four, five and six.
Tacchi leveled the match at 1-1 with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory in fourth singles over Oskar Brostrom.
On court six, Koons made it 2-1 Wake Forest with a 7-5, 6-2 win.
After dropping their first sets, Suresh Ekambaram and Moroni both forced a third on courts one and two, respectively.
Pow brought the Deacs to one point away from clinching the match, as he earned his team-high 15th victory of the season with a 7-5, 6-2 win in fifth singles.
Baylor got one back with a 6-3, 7-5 on court three to make it 3-2 Wake Forest.
Moroni clinched the match for the Demon Deacons with a comeback 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 84 Zsombor Velcz.
- The two sides agreed to play out the remaining match.
Suresh Ekambaram closed out the match with another come-from-behind victory for the Deacs (2-6, 6-4, 6-3) in first singles, as Wake Forest defeated Baylor, 5-2.

Singles Results
1. #90 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WF) def. #59 Tadeas Paroulek (BU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. #22 Filippo Moroni (WF) def. #84 Zsombor Velcz (BU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
3. Louis Bowden (BU) def. Matthew Thomson (WF) 6-3, 7-5
4. #98 Luciano Tacchi (WF) def. Oskar Brostrom (BU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Luca Pow (WF) def. Luc Koenig (BU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Holden Koons (WF) def. Marko Miladinovic (BU) 6-1, 6-3

Doubles Results
1. Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz (BU) def. #1 DK Suresh Ekambaram/Holden Koons (WF) 6-3
2. Devin Badenhorst/Luc Koenig (BU) def. Filippo Moroni/Matthew Thomson (WF) 7-5
3. Luciano Tacchi/Luca Pow (WF) def. Oskar Brostrom/Christopher Frantzen (BU) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,6,5,3,2,1)

From Coach Bresky
"It was a good, tough match. Baylor has an excellent team. It was tough after losing the doubles point. I thought we were just fine, but it just didn't go our way. We had a very strong performance in singles, gutting out five wins. We're going to continue to work hard. We had a great spring break. The guys practiced hard. We have another tough match against VCU tomorrow, who's another excellent team." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Up Next
The Demon Deacons will have a quick turnaround, hosting VCU and Campbell tomorrow evening at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.

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No. 4 Wake Forest Storms Back to Down No. 19 Baylor, 5-2

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Holden Koons

Filippo Moroni

Luca Pow

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Matthew Thomson

Wake Forest Athletics