No. 1 Wake Forest Closes Out Road Stretch with Victory Over Georgia Tech

ATLANTA, Ga. – Wrapping up a dominant four-match stretch on the road against tough ACC competition, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team defeated Georgia Tech, 4-1, Sunday afternoon inside the Ken Byers Tennis Complex.

The Demon Deacons (28-0, 10-0 ACC) took control of the match early and secured the doubles point for the 27th time in 28 matches this season following wins from junior DK Suresh Ekambaram/freshman Charlie Robertson on court one and graduate duo Ioannis Xilas/Franco Capalbo on court three.

Suresh and Robertson, the No. 40-ranked pair in the country, defeated No. 20 Bonetto/Carlini (6-3) for their ninth win together with just one loss and are now 5-0 against ranked opponents this campaign.

Meanwhile, Xilas/Capalbo continued to be a reliable piece for the Deacs in third doubles with a dominant 6-2 victory over Brancatelli/Bauer to clinch the point. They rank second on the team with 11 wins together this season.

In singles, Robertson recorded his fourth-consecutive victory and brought his collegiate record back to .500 (6-6) as he has continued to impress over the last few weeks. He took down Christophe Clement in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) on court two as he also improved to 3-0 against conference opponents.

Suresh, who entered the weekend ranked No. 6 in the nation, defeated Gabriele Brancatelli, 6-4, 7-5, on court one and brought the Deacs to within one win away from clinching the match. He is now tied for third on the team with 12 wins this campaign, including an impressive 8-3 mark in first singles.

Wake Forest clinched the match following a 6-4, 7-5 victory from sophomore Luca Pow on court five over Gianluca Carlini. Pow leads the team with an outstanding 21-2 record so far this season and has extended his winning streak to 16 matches. Additionally, he is now 9-0 against ACC opponents. Of note, the Deacs are now a combined 98-30 in singles this campaign.

With the win, the Deacs improved to 29-24 all-time against the Yellow Jackets and have won 15 of the last 16 matches in the series dating back to 2012.

Wake Forest is one of just two schools that remain unbeaten in ACC play, along with NC State. The Demon Deacons will battle the Wolfpack in the regular-season finale on April 12 in Raleigh. Additionally, the win on Sunday extended the program record for most-consecutive wins to open a season.

How It Happened

In doubles, Suresh/Robertson surged to an early 3-0 lead on court one as courts two and three remained on serve.
Xilas/Capalbo was the second pair to go up a break as they did so on court three.
Wake Forest secured the doubles point with wins from Suresh/Robertson (6-3) and Xilas/Capalbo (6-2) on courts one and three, respectively.
- Court two went unfinished with Pow/Tacchi tied with Clement/Arora, 4-4.
Only needing three singles courts, Wake Forest took control of the match by going up a break on courts one (Suresh), three (Robertson) and four (Taccih) early in the first set.
Georgia Tech took the first singles set of the afternoon on court two.
Pow and Capalbo further increased the Deacs' control of the match by going up a break on courts five and six, respectively.
Robertson was the first Wake Forest player to take a set (6-3) on court three.
- Suresh quickly followed (6-4) in first singles.
A few moments later. Tacchi (6-3) and Capalbo (6-3) claimed their respective first sets.
Pow (6-4) then made it five first sets for the Demon Deacons.
Georgia Tech tied the match at 1-1 with a victory on court two, but the Demon Deacons took the lead back after a 6-3, 6-2 win from Robertson on court three.
Suresh extended the lead with a 6-4, 7-5 victory on court one as the Deacs needed just one more court to clinch the match.
Capalbo was forced into a third set on court six.
The Demon Deacons secured the victory over the Yellow Jackets following Pow's 6-4, 7-5 win on court five.
- Courts four and six went unfinished.

Singles Results
1. No. 6 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) def. Gabriele Brancatelli (GT) 6-4, 7-5
2. No. 109 Nate Bonetto (GT) def. No. 67 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Christophe Clement (GT) 6-3, 6-2
4. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) vs. Krish Arora (GT) 6-3, 6-6, unfinished
5. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Gianluca Carlini (GT) 6-4, 7-5
6. Franco Capalbo (WFU) vs. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-3, 4-6, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 5

Doubles Results
1. No. 40 Suresh/Robertson (WFU) def. No. 20 Bonetto/Carlini (GT) 6-3
2. No. 6 Tacchi/Pow (WFU) vs.. No. 59 Clement/Arora (GT) 4-4, unfinished
3. Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) def. Brancatelli/Bauer (GT) 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 3

From Coach Bresky
"Overall an excellent trip to get another ACC win. Moving indoors on their senior day, we knew we would get a great great effort from them and we did. We had quite a few chances to close that match out, but couldn't quite get over the hump until the very end there with Luca. They had a nice crowd and fought really hard. The guys are doing a great job. It's a long season and we've had a lot of tough opponents. We're excited to get through that one and now to get home and play in front of our fans. It feels like it's been a bit, so we're looking forward to that and let's try to keep it rolling."

Next Up
The Demon Deacons will now return home for a pair of doubleheaders next weekend.

On Friday, April 4, Wake Forest will host ACC newcomers SMU at 3:30 p.m. immediately followed by a non-conference clash against Longwood at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the Deacs will welcome Boston College (12 p.m.) and Coastal Carolina (4 p.m.) for senior day.

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No. 1 Wake Forest Closes Out Road Stretch with Victory Over Georgia Tech

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Franco Capalbo

Luca Pow

Charlie Robertson

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Ioannis Xilas

Wake Forest Athletics