No. 1 Demon Deacons Sweep Tuesday Doubleheader

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – On the first outside match day of the 2025 season, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team picked up a pair of 5-2 victories over UNC Wilmington and Gardner-Webb at the Wake Forest Tennis Center Tuesday afternoon.

The Demon Deacons (16-0, 0-0 ACC) have now broken the program record for most wins to open a campaign, surpassing the previous record of 14 set by the 2018 National Championship team. Wake Forest is also a combined 57-20 in singles and 32-5 in doubles so far this season, taking all 16 doubles points.

Playing together for the first time as a pair, junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and freshman Charlie Robertson notched two impressive victories over UNCW's Mallory/Huen (6-3) and Gardner-Webb's Dias/Schreiber (6-1).

The No. 75-ranked pairing of graduate students Ioannis Xilas and Franco Capalbo clinched the doubles point against the Seahawks with a 6-4 win over Steffen/de Gabriele. The two are now tied for the team-lead with eight doubles wins this campaign (Pow/Tacchi).

The Deacs remained perfect in doubles against the Runnin' Bulldogs as sophomore Martin Mazev and freshman Cornelius Shalmi took down Lemieux-Monette/Cressoni (6-3). It marked the first doubles win of Shalmi's collegiate career.

In singles, Suresh clinched the first win of the day for Wake Forest with a comeback victory over UNCW's Harold Huens (3-6, 6-2, 6-1) on court one.

Sophomore Luca Pow notched a pair of victories on the day and now has a team-best 12 wins this campaign. He breezed through UNCW's Alex de Gabriele (6-2, 6-1) and Gardner-Webb's Numa Lemieux-Monette (6-2, 6-2) in straight sets and extended his winning streak to seven matches.

Xilas joined Pow as the second Wake Forest player to reach double-digit wins this season as he picked up a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 comeback win over Sam Nicholson (UNCW) before a 6-2, 6-2 match-clinching victory over Eduardo Dias (GWU).

Freshman Joaquin Guilleme was the third Demon Deacon to pick up multiple wins on Tuesday. He defeated Trey Mallory of UNCW (6-4, 6-0) in straight-sets and notched a comeback win against Gardner-Webb's Alexandre Bergeron, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7). Guilleme is now 4-0 in singles this season.

Graduate student Harry Thursfield improved to 3-0 on the year as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 win over Gardner-Webb's Alex Lepine.

The Demon Deacons are now 6-0 all-time against the Bulldogs and 4-0 against UNC Wilmington.

How It Happened (UNCW)

The Demon Deacons earned the first break of the afternoon as Suresh and Robertson jumped out to an early lead on the second doubles court.
- The Seahawks broke on court one and took a 4-2 lead, while court three remained on-serve.
Wake Forest took the doubles point after simultaneous wins on court two (6-3) and three (6-4).
- Court one went unfinished.
In singles, Tacchi was the first Demon Deacon to go up a break on court four, followed by his doubles partner Pow on court five.
- The other four courts remained on-serve.
Tacchi took his first set (6-2) and was quickly joined by Pow (6-2).
The Seahawks took the first set on courts one and two.
Guilleme broke on court six and took the first set, 6-4, as Robertson went to a tiebreak on three.
- UNCW claimed the first set on three following the tiebreak.
Pow put Wake Forest up 2-0 with a quick 6-2, 6-1 win in fifth singles.
Tacchi was forced into a third set on four.
Wake Forest then went up 3-0 as Guilleme cruised to a 6-4, 6-0 win on court six.
Suresh forced a third set in first singles before Xilas battled back from down a double break and forced a third on court two.
The Seahawks got one back with a win on court four.
Suresh clinched the match victory for Wake Forest with a comeback 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win in first singles.
- The two teams agreed to play out the remaining matches.
Xilas made it 5-1 to the Deacs with a comeback win of his own (4-6, 6-4, 6-3).
UNCW made it 5-2 with a win on three.

Singles Results (UNCW)
1. No. 9 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) def. Harold Huens (UNCW) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 56 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) def. Sam Nicholson (UNCW) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Joseph Wayand (UNCW) def. Charlie Robertson (WFU) 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 6-2
4. Lukas Steffen (UNCW) def. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
5. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Alex de Gabriele (UNCW) 6-2, 6-1
6. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) def. Trey Mallory (UNCW) 6-4, 6-0

Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 1, 2, 3

Doubles Results (UNCW)
1. No. 3 Tacchi/Pow (WFU) vs. Domenech/Wayand (UNCW) 3-5, unfinished
2. Suresh/Robertson (WFU) def. Mallory/Huens (UNCW) 6-3
3. No. 75 Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) def. Steffen/de Gabriele (UNCW) 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3

How It Happened (Gardner-Webb)

In doubles, Suresh and Robertson carried the momentum over from their earlier win and took the first five games on court one.
The Demon Deacon pairs on courts two and three both went up a break.
Wake Forest took the doubles point with wins on court one (6-1) and two (6-3).
Pow and Shalmi were the first two Demon Deacons to break in singles on courts three and six, respectively.
- The two went on to take their respective first sets.
Xilas was the third to take a set as he did so in dominant 6-2 fashion on court one.
On court five, Thursfield battled back to a 6-4 first-set victory.
- Gardner-Webb took the first sets on courts two and four.
Pow extended the lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on court three.
Gardner-Webb claimed second singles and made it 2-1.
Thursfield put Wake Forest up 3-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on court five.
Xilas clinched the win for Wake Forest as he notched a 6-2, 6-2 victory on court one.
- The two teams agreed to play out the remaining two matches.
The Runnin' Bulldogs took court six.
Guilleme closed out the 5-2 win with a 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7) victory on court four.

Singles Results (Gardner-Webb)
1. No. 56 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) def. Eduardo Dias (GWU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Kim Niethammer (GWU) def. Charlie Robertson (WFU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Numa Lemieux-Monette (GWU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) def. Alexandre Bergeron (GWU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-7)
5. Harry Thursfield (WFU) def. Alex Lepine (GWU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Boyd Schreiber (GWU) def. Cornelius Shalmi (WFU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 2, 5, 1, 6, 4

Doubles Results (Gardner-Webb)
1. Robertson/Suresh (WFU) def. Dias/Schreiber (GWU) 6-1
2. Mazev/Shalmi (WFU) def. Lemieux-Monette/Cressoni (GWU) 6-3
3. Pow/Thursfield (WFU) vs. Lepine/Bergeron (GWU) 5-3, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

From Coach Bresky
"It's great to get outside. It was a beautiful day. The transition from indoors to outdoors is always a tough one, so I'm glad we were able to get out here and get ready for the ACC season starting Friday. UNC Wilmington and Gardner-Webb are both NCAA tournament teams in their conference and it's good to get some different guys some action. I'm excited to be back at home and get ready for Stanford on Friday." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Next Up
The Demon Deacons will now prepare for the start of conference play with matches against ACC newcomers Stanford and Cal on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

First serve against the Cardinal is slated for 4 p.m., while Sunday's matchup with the Golden Bears will begin at noon.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Franco Capalbo

Joaquin Guilleme

Martin Mazev

Luca Pow

Charlie Robertson

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Harry Thursfield

Ioannis Xilas

Wake Forest Athletics