Friday, January 24
Winston-Salem, N.C.
5 p.m.
Wake Forest University
vs
Charlotte
Photo by: Helen McGinnis / Wake Forest Athletics
No. 4 Demon Deacons Set to Host ITA Kickoff Weekend
1/23/2025 11:27:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Wake Forest will look to advance to the ITA Indoor Nationals with a pair of wins this weekend.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Looking to advance to ITA National Indoors for the fourth-consecutive season, the No. 4-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis program will host ITA Kickoff Weekend, with Charlotte, North Carolina and Memphis all paying a visit to the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center.
Wake Forest will take on Charlotte at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. With a win, the Demon Deacons will take on the winner of North Carolina/Memphis on Saturday at 5 p.m., with the winner booking a ticket to ITA National Indoors in Waco/Dallas, Texas.
Match Schedule
The live stream for all matches will be provided via Playsight, while the live results 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 regular season matches are free of charge.
Hot Start
Wake Forest has started the season 5-0 for the third time in four years and has yet to drop a court.
The Demon Deacons are now a combined 21-0 in singles and 10-0 in doubles to open the season, the best mark in both since the 2022 campaign.
Wake Forest Singles Records
The Matchup - Charlotte
The 49ers enter the weekend with a 1-1 record, downing Queens (N.C.) 7-0 at home their last time out. Wake Forest will be Charlotte's second ACC opponent this season, as it dropped a 5-2 contest on the road at Georgia Tech in its opener.
Last season, Charlotte posted an overall record of 19-4 and booked a ticket to the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history by winning the AAC Tournament.
Wake Forest is 13-1 all-time against the 49ers and have an eight-match winning streak against the program dating back to 1999.
Last Time Out
In front of an electric crowd of over 350 packed into the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center, the largest attendance in over two years, the No. 4-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team notched a pair of 4-0 victories Sunday afternoon over No. 13 Tennessee and SC State to improve to 5-0 on the year.
In doubles against Tennessee, the dynamic duo of DK Suresh Ekambaram and Ioannis Xilas played together for the first time in dual-match play and picked up a dominant, 6-1, victory over Mitsui/Newton on court two. In third doubles, Franco Capalbo and Stefan Dostanic also notched an easy 6-1 win. Of note, Capalbo has now won three doubles matches in 2025 with three different partners.
Wake Forest remained dominant in singles play, as sophomore standout Luca Pow extended his dual-match winning streak to 23-consecutive matches as he easily handled Alan Jesudason (UT), 6-0, 6-1 in fourth singles and then Mikalai Bankou (SCSU), 6-2, 6-2 in first singles.
Ioannis Xilas and Luciano Tacchi both improved to 4-0 on the year in singles against Tennessee. Xilas battled back in the second set and defeated Jose Garcia (6-3, 6-4) in third singles right before Tacchi clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win on court five over Ian Cruz.
In the second match, Nikola Parichkov picked up his first win of the season as he defeated Ivan Pauliuchenka, 6-1, 6-2 on court six. Harry Thursfield improved to 2-0 and clinched the victory over the Bulldogs with a 6-3, 6-0 win on court four.
The victory over the Volunteers marked the first ranked win of the season for the Demon Deacons. Additionally, Wake Forest has now won four-consecutive home matches against Tennessee.
The Demon Deacons remained perfect all-time (5-0) against SC State.
ITA Rankings
The Demon Deacons were tabbed as the second-best team in the nation in the latest ITA poll, the highest-ranked out of six ACC teams in the top 25. Individually, Wake Forest has two singles players and three doubles pairs ranked.
Singles
Doubles
The Bresky Era
Since arriving at Wake Forest, head coach Tony Bresky has enjoyed a decorated career, winning ITA National Coach of the Year in 2018, along with garnering ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2013 and 2016. Additionally, Bresky has been tabbed ITA Regional Coach of the Year on five occasions (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2024). Of note, Bresky led Wake Forest to its first-ever national title in 2018, after accumulating a 33-2 mark.
Individually, Bresky has coached two ACC Players of the Year (Noah Rubin and Melios Efstathiou), along with 35 All-ACC selections and 10 ITA Singles All-Americans.
During his tenure at Wake Forest, Bresky has amassed 334 wins. Of note, early in 2023 with a victory over No. 6 Tennessee, Bresky became the winningest coach in program history, surpassing the legendary Jim Leighton.
Wake Forest's Team Success Under Bresky
Bresky's teams have also excelled in the classroom during his stint in Winston-Salem, as he's coached 22 All-ACC Academic Team honorees and an ACC Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Next Up
With a win, the Demon Deacons will take on the winner of North Carolina/Memphis on Saturday at 5 p.m. inside the ITC for a chance to advance to the ITA National Indoors next month.
Follow the Deacs
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Wake Forest will take on Charlotte at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. With a win, the Demon Deacons will take on the winner of North Carolina/Memphis on Saturday at 5 p.m., with the winner booking a ticket to ITA National Indoors in Waco/Dallas, Texas.
Match Schedule
- Friday, Jan. 24
- 1 p.m. - North Carolina vs. Memphis
- 5 p.m. - No. 4 Wake Forest vs. Charlotte
- Saturday, Jan. 25
- 1 p.m. - Consolation
- 5 p.m. - Winners
The live stream for all matches will be provided via Playsight, while the live results 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 regular season matches are free of charge.
Hot Start
Wake Forest has started the season 5-0 for the third time in four years and has yet to drop a court.
The Demon Deacons are now a combined 21-0 in singles and 10-0 in doubles to open the season, the best mark in both since the 2022 campaign.
Wake Forest Singles Records
| Player | Overall | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Capalbo | 2-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Chang | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Dostanic | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Guilleme | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Parichkov | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Pow | 4-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Shalmi | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Tacchi | 4-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Thursfield | 2-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Xilas | 4-0 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Total | 21-0 | 4-0 | 2-0 | 4-0 | 5-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 |
The 49ers enter the weekend with a 1-1 record, downing Queens (N.C.) 7-0 at home their last time out. Wake Forest will be Charlotte's second ACC opponent this season, as it dropped a 5-2 contest on the road at Georgia Tech in its opener.
Last season, Charlotte posted an overall record of 19-4 and booked a ticket to the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history by winning the AAC Tournament.
Wake Forest is 13-1 all-time against the 49ers and have an eight-match winning streak against the program dating back to 1999.
Last Time Out
In front of an electric crowd of over 350 packed into the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center, the largest attendance in over two years, the No. 4-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team notched a pair of 4-0 victories Sunday afternoon over No. 13 Tennessee and SC State to improve to 5-0 on the year.
In doubles against Tennessee, the dynamic duo of DK Suresh Ekambaram and Ioannis Xilas played together for the first time in dual-match play and picked up a dominant, 6-1, victory over Mitsui/Newton on court two. In third doubles, Franco Capalbo and Stefan Dostanic also notched an easy 6-1 win. Of note, Capalbo has now won three doubles matches in 2025 with three different partners.
Wake Forest remained dominant in singles play, as sophomore standout Luca Pow extended his dual-match winning streak to 23-consecutive matches as he easily handled Alan Jesudason (UT), 6-0, 6-1 in fourth singles and then Mikalai Bankou (SCSU), 6-2, 6-2 in first singles.
Ioannis Xilas and Luciano Tacchi both improved to 4-0 on the year in singles against Tennessee. Xilas battled back in the second set and defeated Jose Garcia (6-3, 6-4) in third singles right before Tacchi clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win on court five over Ian Cruz.
In the second match, Nikola Parichkov picked up his first win of the season as he defeated Ivan Pauliuchenka, 6-1, 6-2 on court six. Harry Thursfield improved to 2-0 and clinched the victory over the Bulldogs with a 6-3, 6-0 win on court four.
The victory over the Volunteers marked the first ranked win of the season for the Demon Deacons. Additionally, Wake Forest has now won four-consecutive home matches against Tennessee.
The Demon Deacons remained perfect all-time (5-0) against SC State.
ITA Rankings
The Demon Deacons were tabbed as the second-best team in the nation in the latest ITA poll, the highest-ranked out of six ACC teams in the top 25. Individually, Wake Forest has two singles players and three doubles pairs ranked.
Singles
| DK Suresh Ekambaram | 7 |
| Ioannis Xilas | 115 |
| Luciano Tacchi/Luca Pow | 4 |
| DK Suresh Ekambaram/Andrew Delgado | 8 |
| DK Suresh Ekambaram/Ioannis Xilas | 29 |
Since arriving at Wake Forest, head coach Tony Bresky has enjoyed a decorated career, winning ITA National Coach of the Year in 2018, along with garnering ACC Coach of the Year honors in 2013 and 2016. Additionally, Bresky has been tabbed ITA Regional Coach of the Year on five occasions (2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2024). Of note, Bresky led Wake Forest to its first-ever national title in 2018, after accumulating a 33-2 mark.
Individually, Bresky has coached two ACC Players of the Year (Noah Rubin and Melios Efstathiou), along with 35 All-ACC selections and 10 ITA Singles All-Americans.
During his tenure at Wake Forest, Bresky has amassed 334 wins. Of note, early in 2023 with a victory over No. 6 Tennessee, Bresky became the winningest coach in program history, surpassing the legendary Jim Leighton.
Wake Forest's Team Success Under Bresky
- NCAA Championship: 2018
- ACC Tournament: 2016, 2018, 2019
- ACC Regular Season: 2017, 2018, 2019
- ITA National Team Indoor Championship: 2018
Bresky's teams have also excelled in the classroom during his stint in Winston-Salem, as he's coached 22 All-ACC Academic Team honorees and an ACC Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Next Up
With a win, the Demon Deacons will take on the winner of North Carolina/Memphis on Saturday at 5 p.m. inside the ITC for a chance to advance to the ITA National Indoors next month.
Follow the Deacs
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Players Mentioned
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