No. 1 Wake Forest Downs Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Staying perfect during the 2025 campaign, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team earned a road victory over Louisville, 4-1, Sunday afternoon inside the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

The Demon Deacons (26-0, 8-0 ACC) took the doubles point for the 25th time in 26 matches and carried the momentum into singles.

The graduate pairing of Ioannis Xilas and Franco Capalbo continued to be a reliable duo for the Deacs, as they defeated Avenado/Mayew, 6-4, in third doubles. They are now the second Wake Forest pair to reach double-digit wins together this season, along with sophomore Luca Pow and senior Luciano Tacchi (13).

Junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and freshman Charlie Robertson clinched the doubles point for the Demon Deacons following a clutch, 7-5 victory on court one over Nakanishi/Steinbach. Robertson and Suresh are now 7-1 together this season.

In singles, Robertson was the first to take a court with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win on court three against Andre Steinbach. It marked his third-consecutive singles win and fifth overall for the Deacs.

After the Cardinals took court one, Xilas responded on court two with a 6-2, 6-3 over Nathan Rodrigues for his 15th win of the season and sixth while competing in second singles. His 15 wins rank second on the team.

The team-leader in wins, Pow, added another to his tally as he took down Kosuke Nakanishi (6-4, 6-3) on court four to clinch the match for Wake Forest. The Englishman has now won 19 matches this season, including 14 in a row and a 6-0 record against ACC opponents.

Wake Forest is one of just two schools that remain unbeaten in ACC play, along with NC State. Additionally, the win on Sunday extended the program record for most-consecutive wins to open a season. Of note, the Deacs are now a combined 92-28 in singles this campaign.

With the win, the Deacs improved to 18-2 all-time against the Cardinals and have won 13-consecutive matches in the series dating back to 2013.

How It Happened

Courts one and three remained even through the opening few games, while the Cardinals held a break advantage on court two.
Suresh/Robertson earned the first break for Wake Forest on court one.
On court three, Xilas/Capalbo surged to a 5-2 lead as the other two courts went back on-serve.
- The duo finished it out and brought the Deacs within a court away from the doubles point.
The Cardinals took court two.
Tied at 5-5, Suresh/Robertson came through with a 7-5 victory on court one over Nakanishi/Steinbach and gave Wake Forest the 1-0 advantage.
Capalbo and Xilas jumped out to commanding 4-0 first-set leads in singles.
- Robertson and Pow also went up a break.
Louisville took the first sets on courts one and five.
Wake Forest took four first-sets courtesy of Xilas (6-2), Robertson (6-4), Pow (6-4) and Capalbo (6-1).
Robertson put the Deacs up 2-0 with a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win on court three.
Louisville got one back with a win on court one, but Xilas responded with a victory of his own on two, giving Wake Forest a 3-1 lead.
On court four, Pow secured the match for the Deacs with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Nakanishi.
- Courts five and six went unfinished.

Singles Results
1. Will Mayew (LOU) def. No. 6 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 67 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) def. Nathan Rodrigues (LOU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Andre Steinbach (LOU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Kosuke Nakanishi (LOU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) vs. Hamza El Amine (LOU) 2-6, 5-4, unfinished
6. Franco Capalbo vs. Piet Steveker (LOU) 6-1, 5-6, unfinished
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2, 4

Doubles Results
1. No. 40 Suresh/Robertson (WFU) def. Nakanishi/Steinbach (LOU) 7-5
2. Rodrigues/El Amine (LOU) def. No. 6 Tacchi/Pow (WFU) 6-3
3. Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) def. Avenado/Mayew (LOU) 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

From Coach Bresky
"Another tough day on the road in the ACC. I'm excited to come out with the win. We got moved inside because of the rain and our guys did a really good job of responding. It's always tough on the road. We know we're getting tough challenges and dealing with adversity that we are facing really well. We have to do it again next weekend with a couple more road matches. Now to get home, get some rest and be ready for next weekend."

Next Up
After the 2-0 weekend, the Demon Deacons will remain on the road for two more matches as they take on Clemson and Georgia Tech next weekend.

The match against the Tigers will be streamed live on Clemson's website with live results available here.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Franco Capalbo

Joaquin Guilleme

Luca Pow

Charlie Robertson

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Ioannis Xilas

Wake Forest Athletics