No. 1 Wake Forest Sweeps Miami

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Returning to the Jim Leighton Courts for the first time in two weeks, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team notched a 4-0 conference win over Miami Friday evening.

The Demon Deacons (22-0, 5-0 ACC) improved to 14-0 at home this season and an incredible 77-5 over the last four seasons, the most home wins in the nation during that span.

Additionally, the win on Friday extended the program record for most-consecutive wins to open a season.

In doubles, the dynamic duo of senior Luciano Tacchi and sophomore Luca Pow earned a quick 6-1 victory over Serra Sanchez/Dal Boni on court two. The No. 6-ranked pair in the nation lead the Demon Deacons with 12 wins together this season to just two losses. Over the last two seasons, they have compiled a 32-12 record in dual match play including a 9-1 mark against conference opponents.

The opening point was clinched for Wake Forest following a 6-3 win on court one from junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and graduate student Stefan Dostanic. The pair, ranked No. 5 nationally, improved to 8-1 together this campaign while competing in the first doubles slot.

In singles, the Demon Deacons saw three simultaneous victories from Pow, Tacchi and graduate student Ioannis Xilas.

Pow, who defeated Leonardo Dal Boni (6-2, 6-2) on court five, extended his winning streak to 10-consecutive matches and now has a team-high 15 total victories with just two losses. Less than a minute later, Tacchi wrapped up his 6-2, 6-1 win over Mehdi Sadaoui on court four.

Xilas clinched the 22nd win of the year for the Deacs as he took down Nacho Serra Sanchez (6-2, 6-2) on court three. The Greek ranks second on the team with 13 wins this season.

Wake Forest is a combined 79-24 in singles and 45-8 in doubles so far this year, taking all 22 doubles points.

How It Happened

Pow/Tacchi earned the first break of the evening for the Demon Deacons on court two, followed by Xilas/Capalbo on court three.
After falling behind a break early, Suresh/Dostanic surged back and took the lead on court one.
Wake Forest clinched the doubles point with wins from Pow/Tacchi (6-1) and Suresh/Dostanic (6-3) on two and one, respectively.
- Court three went unfinished with Xilas/Capalbo leading 4-3.
Suresh was the first to go up a break in singles.
On court five, Pow jumped out to a dominant 4-0 first-set lead before he dropped a game.
- Tacchi joined his doubles partner in taking an early lead, as he went up 4-1 on court four.
Shortly after Miami took the first set on court one, Pow was the first Demon Deacon to do so on court five, 6-2.
Xilas surged back in second singles and took his first set, 6-2.
Wake Forest took firm control of the match as Suresh (6-4) and Tacchi (6-2) closed out their first sets on courts two and four, respectively.
Dostanic battled back after dropping the first set and jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second, eventually winning the set 6-1.
Tacchi and Pow continued to dominate and both went up a break early in their second sets.
- Xilas joined them a few moments later.
The Hurricanes forced a third set on court two.
Pow (6-2, 6-2) and Tacchi (6-2, 6-1) quickly put the Demon Deacons up 3-0 with wins less than a minute apart.
Xilas closed out the match not long after with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court three.
- The remaining three courts went unfinished.

Singles Results
1. No. 11 Stefan Dostanic (WFU) vs. No. 42 Martin Katz (MIA) 4-6, 6-1, 1-1, unfinished
2. No. 5 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) vs. Antonio Prat (MIA) 6-4, 0-6, unfinished
3. No. 65 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) def. Nacho Serra Sanchez (MIA) 6-2, 6-2
4. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Mehdi Sadaoui (MIA) 6-2, 6-1
5. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Leonardo Dal Boni (MIA) 6-2, 6-2
6. Franco Capalbo (WFU) vs. Jules Garot (MIA) 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3

Doubles Results
1. No. 5 Suresh/Dostanic (WFU) def. Katz/Prat (MIA) 6-3
2. No. 6 Tacchi/Pow (WFU) def. Serra Sanchez/Dal Boni (MIA) 6-1
3. Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) vs. Garot/Sadaoui (MIA) 4-3, unfinished
Order of finish: 2, 1

From Coach Bresky
"It's great to get another ACC win on a beautiful night. I thought we did a good job in doubles and to carry the momentum into singles. It was nice to get Stef (Dostanic) back out there without Charlie in the lineup, just trying to see some different things and face adversity. I'm excited for us to pull through and now we're ready for the Florida State Seminoles on Sunday."

Next Up
The Demon Deacons will return to action on Sunday with a doubleheader against Florida State and NC A&T. The match against the Seminoles will begin at noon before a 4 p.m. clash against the Aggies.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Franco Capalbo

Stefan Dostanic

Luca Pow

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Ioannis Xilas

Wake Forest Athletics