No. 1 Demon Deacons Earn 4-2 Win Over No. 6 Stanford in ACC Opener

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In the first ACC match of the 2025 campaign, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team notched a 4-2 victory over No. 6-ranked Stanford at the Wake Forest Tennis Center Friday afternoon.

The Demon Deacons (17-0, 1-0 ACC) have now extended the program record for most wins to open a campaign to 17. On Tuesday, the Deacs surpassed the previous record of 14 set by the 2018 National Championship team. Wake Forest is also a combined 60-22 in singles and 34-6 in doubles so far this season, taking all 17 doubles points.

Junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and freshman Charlie Robertson improved to 3-0 as a pairing with a dominant 6-2 victory over Stanford's Basing/Kang on court one.

After the Cardinal (8-3, 0-1 ACC) claimed the second doubles court, the graduate duo of Ioannis Xilas and Franco Capalbo forced a tiebreak and clinched the doubles point for the Deacs with a 7-6(3) win over Godsick/von der Schulenburg. Capalbo and Xilas now have a team-high nine victories together this campaign.

Suresh followed up his impressive performance in doubles with another dominant showing in singles. He defeated the No. 18-ranked player in the nation, Samir Banerjee, in straight-sets (6-3, 6-2) in just a little over an hour. He is now 7-3 this campaign including a perfect 3-0 mark while competing in No. 1 singles.

On court six, Capalbo stayed perfect on the year with a huge 6-3, 6-4 victory over Nico Godsick and brought the Deacs to within a court away from victory. Of note, the Demon Deacons are now a stellar 12-2 in sixth singles this season.

Stanford took court two and was nearing a victory on court five, but freshman Charlie Robertson came up huge for Wake Forest with a clutch comeback win (3-6, 6-4, 7-5) over Kyle Kang on court four. It marked his third win in a Wake Forest uniform and second clinch.

With the win, the Demon Deacons have now won nine of the last 10 ACC openers dating back to 2016. Additionally, Wake Forest improved to 4-1 all-time against Stanford.

How It Happened

In doubles, Suresh/Robertson broke on court one and went up 4-2 while the other two courts remained on serve.
- The duo quickly closed out the 6-2 win in first doubles.
The Cardinal claimed court two as the doubles point came down to court three.
After forcing a tiebreak on three, Capalbo/Xilas clinched the doubles point for Wake Forest.
Just over 20 minutes into singles, the Demon Deacons were up a break on courts one, two and five.
On court two, Xilas was the first Demon Deacon to take a set, as he did so against No. 80 Basing, 6-2.
- Suresh shortly followed Xilas with a 6-3 first-set victory on court one.
Stanford took the first set on cours three and four, but Wake Forest immediately responded with sets from Pow and Capalbo on five and six, respectively.
The Deacs held early breaks in the second set on courts one, four and five.
Suresh put Wake Forest up 2-0 with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 victory on court one over No. 18 Samir Banerjee.
Xilas and Robertson went into a third set on courts two and four.
The Cardinal got one back with a win on court three.
Capalbo brought the Deacs to one court away from clinching with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on court six.
Pow was forced into a third set on court five.
Stanford made it 3-2 with a win on two.
With the match riding on his shoulders, Robertson stepped up and clinched the match with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win on four.
- Court five went unfinished.

Singles Results
1. No. 9 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU)) def. No. 18 Samir Banerjee (STAN) 6-3, 6-2
2. No. 80 Max Basing (STAN) def. No. 56 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
3. Henry von der Schulenburg (STAN) def. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Kyle Kang (STAN) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
5. Luca Pow (WFU) vs. Hudson Rivera (STAN) 6-3, 6(5)-7, 1-5, unfinished
6. Franco Capalbo (WFU) def. Nico Godsick (STAN) 6-3, 6-4

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

Doubles Results
1. Suresh/Robertson (WFU) def. Basing/Kang (STAN) 6-2
2. Banerjee/Razeghi (STAN) def. No. 3 Tacchi/Pow (WFU) 6-3
3. No. 75 Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) def. Godsick/von der Schulenburg (STAN) 7-6(3)

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

From Coach Bresky
"I'm happy to get it done. It was obviously a tight doubles point and we were lucky to pull that out. Luca was up big and it looked like we were going to pull off three straight-setters. Credit to Stanford, they have a great team. They fought back and made it uncertain at the end. It was just an unbelievable effort by Charlie to finish it out there. He had a tough day on Tuesday and showed an incredible amount of toughness. He played great tennis, the tennis we know he can play. Now we have to get ready for a really tough Cal team on Sunday." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Next Up
The Demon Deacons will now prepare for a doubleheader this upcoming Sunday, March 2 as they take on Cal and NC Wesleyan.

First serve against the Golden Bears is slated for noon followed by a 4 p.m. start against the Bishops.

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No. 1 Demon Deacons Earn 4-2 Win Over No. 6 Stanford in ACC Opener

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Franco Capalbo

Luca Pow

Charlie Robertson

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Ioannis Xilas

Wake Forest Athletics