No. 1 Demon Deacons Notch Doubleheader Sweep

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In the last pair of home matches before a two-week road stretch, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team picked up wins over No. 32 Florida State and NC A&T Sunday afternoon at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

The Demon Deacons (24-0, 6-0 ACC) improved to 16-0 at home this season and an incredible 79-5 over the last four seasons, the most home wins in the nation during that span.

Of note, Wake Forest is one of just three schools that remain unbeaten in ACC play, along with Clemson and NC State. Additionally, the wins on Sunday extended the program record for most-consecutive wins to open a season.

Junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and sophomore Martin Mazev played together for the first time and notched a quick 6-3 victory over Florida State's Craig/Rusher on court three. Suresh is now a stellar 19-1 overall in doubles this season while Mazev improved to 3-0 for his career.

The No. 6-ranked doubles pair in the nation, sophomore Luca Pow and senior Luciano Tacchi, earned their highest-ranked win together as they defeated No. 3 Bulte/Rihane (6-4) on court one to clinch the doubles point against the Seminoles. The duo is now 13-2 this season and 33-12 together over the last two years, with five wins against ranked pairs.

In singles, Pow extended his winning streak to a team-best 12 matches as he defeated Florida State's Erik Schiessl (6-3, 6-3) on court four and won by retirement against NC A&T. His 17 singles wins this campaign lead the team with just two losses to his name.

Suresh was the fourth Demon Deacon to reach double-digit wins this campaign with a 7-6 (7-0), 7-5 victory over No. 19 Corey Craig in first singles. It marked his fifth ranked win this campaign and third against a top-20 opponent.

Graduate student Franco Capalbo clinched the match against the Seminoles with a 6-2, 7-5 win on court five over Joshua Dous-Karpenschif. He remained perfect on the year with six wins and zero losses.

Against the Aggies, the Demon Deacons continued to dominate in doubles as Capalbo and fellow graduate student Ioannis Xilas grabbed their ninth win as a pair with a 6-2 decision over Coupu-Moison/Brill on court two.

Graduate student Harry Thursfield and sophomore Dylan Chang picked up a 6-3 win over Santos/Dussaubat on court three as they moved to 2-0 together on the year.

Freshman Cornelius Shalmi finished a quick 6-1, 6-2 victory over NC A&T's Mathieu Dussaubat on court six for his third win of the season before fellow freshman Joaquin Guilleme clinched the match against Kaua Santos (6-2, 6-3) on court three. Guilleme remained perfect to start his collegiate career with six wins to zero losses this season.

Wake Forest is a combined 85-26 in singles and 49-9 in doubles so far this year, taking all 24 doubles points.

With the wins, Wake Forest moved to 18-24 all-time against the Seminoles and now holds a 4-0 record over the Aggies.

How It Happened (FSU)

Pow/Tacchi went up a break after the opening game on court one, followed by Suresh/Mazev on court three.
- Court two saw back-to-back breaks to open the match.
The Demon Deacons on court three surged to a quick 6-3 victory over Craig/Rusher and brought Wake Forest to within a court away from the doubles point.
Florida State took court two.
The Deacs stayed perfect in doubles points this season as Pow/Tacchi earned a top-three victory over Bulte/Rihane (6-4).
Wake Forest jumped out to commanding leads on courts four, five and six.
- Court one remained on-serve early on as Florida State only held an advantage on courts two and three.
Guilleme was the first to take a set as he cruised to a 6-1 first-set victory on court six.
Florida State took the first set on court three.
Capalbo and Pow wrapped up first-sets on courts five (6-2) and four (6-3), respectively.
The Seminoles followed with a first-set win on court two.
Suresh gave the Deacs their fourth first-set after a dominant, 7-0 performance in the tiebreak on court one.
Guilleme was forced into a third set on court six.
Florida State took a 2-1 lead with wins on courts two and three.
The Deacs didn't trail for long as Pow tied it at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Erik Schiessl on court four.
Suresh collected another top-20 win as he defeated No. 19 Craig on court one and put the Deacs within one court away from clinching.
On court five, Capalbo stayed cool under pressure and delivered a clutch 6-2, 7-5 win over Dous-Karpenschif and clinched the 23rd victory of the season for Wake Forest.
- Court six went unfinished.

Singles Results (FSU)
1. No. 5 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) def. No. 19 Corey Craig (FSU) 7-6 (7-0), 7-5
2. No. 46 Jamie Connel (FSU) def. No. 65 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Alex Bulte (FSU) def. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Erik Schiessl (FSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Franco Capalbo (WFU) def. J. Dous-Karpenschif (FSU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) vs. Youcef Rihane (FSU) 6-1, 2-6, 3-4, unfinished

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

Doubles Results (FSU)
1. No. 6 Tacchi/Pow (WFU) def. No. 3 Bulte/Rihane (FSU) 6-4
2. Dous-Karpenschif/Schiessl (FSU) def. Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) 6-3
3. Suresh/Mazev (WFU) def. Craig/Rusher (FSU) 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

How It Happened (NCAT)

Capalbo/Xilas were the first to go up a break against the Aggies in doubles as courts one and three remained on-serve.
On court three, Chang and Thursfield caught fire and powered their way to a 6-3 victory.
The Demon Deacons clinched the doubles point following a 6-2 win on court two from Capalbo/Xilas.
Wake Forest went up a break early on every court except for one.
Following a retirement on court two, Pow earned a win and put Wake Forest up 2-0.
Shalmi was the first Demon Deacon to take a set (6-1) on court six.
Guilleme (6-2) and Chang (6-3) notched first-set victories on courts three and five, respectively.
- Thursfield (6-4) and Xilas (6-4) shortly followed as Wake Forest led on every court after the first sets.
Wake Forest went up 3-0 following a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over Mathieu Dussaubat on court six.
A few moments later, Guilleme clinched the second win of the day with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court three.
- The remaining three courts went unfinished.

Singles Results (NCAT)
1. No. 65 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) vs. Ian Pedersen (NCAT) 6-4, 3-5, unfinished
2. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Lucas Coupu-Moison (NCAT) 3-1, retirement
3. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) def. Kaua Santos (NCAT) 6-2, 6-3
4. Harry Thursfield (WFU) vs. Said Akbarov (NCAT) 6-4, 3-4, unfinished
5. Dylan Chang (WFU) vs. Jindrich Brill (NCAT) 6-3, 4-3, unfinished
6. Cornelius Shalmi (WFU) def. Mathieu Dussaubat (NCAT) 6-1, 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 6, 3

Doubles Results (NCAT)
1. Suresh/Mazev (WFU) vs. Akbarov/Pedersen (NCAT) 5-5, unfinished
2. Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) def. Coupu-Moison/Brill (NCAT) 6-2
3. Thursfield/Chang (WFU) def. Santos/Dussaubat (NCAT) 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 2

From Coach Bresky
"We faced a lot of adversity today. Florida State has an excellent team, the defending ACC champs. We had to wait around, didn't know if it was going to be indoors or outdoors and it was pretty windy out there. We also didn't have Stef or Charlie, so we're playing shorthanded. That being said, we had some guys who stepped in and did a great job. Mazev stepped up in doubles. These are long days, tough days, and it's great for us physically and mentally. Hopefully it's going to pay off down the road. We're excited to tough out another win."

Next Up
The Demon Deacons will now hit the road for four-consecutive matches starting with a battle with Notre Dame on Friday, March 21 at 5 p.m.

The match against the Irish will be streamed live on Notre Dame's website with live results available here.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Franco Capalbo

Dylan Chang

Joaquin Guilleme

Martin Mazev

Luca Pow

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Harry Thursfield

Ioannis Xilas

Wake Forest Athletics