No. 1 Demon Deacons Handle No. 5 Virginia on the Road

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Further solidifying its status as the best team in the country, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team picked up a 4-1 ACC road win over No. 5 Virginia Sunday afternoon on the outdoor courts at the Boar's Head Resort.

The Demon Deacons (21-0, 4-0 ACC) have now earned 11 wins over ranked opponents, including six against top-10 foes and four over teams in the top-five.

Wake Forest Top-10 Wins (2025)

4-3 vs. No. 3 Ohio State (Feb. 2)
5-2 at No. 6 Columbia (Feb. 8)
4-3 vs. No. 3 Texas (Feb. 17)
4-3 vs. No. 1 TCU (Feb. 18)
4-2 vs. No. 6 Stanford (Feb. 28)
4-1 at No. 5 Virginia (March 9)

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

Junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and freshman Charlie Robertson set the tone early in doubles with a strong 6-3 victory over No. 67 Dietrich/Dahlberg on court one. The duo, ranked No. 5 in the country, improved to 6-0 together and 3-0 against ranked pairs.

After the Cavaliers (9-5, 1-3 ACC) took the third doubles court, the point would come down to sophomore Luca Pow and graduate student Luciano Tacchi on court two. The No. 6-ranked doubles team outlasted Jodar/Hopper (7-6[8]) in a thrilling tiebreak for their team-high 11th win together this season.

Following their clutch doubles win, Tacchi and Pow both got it done in singles in straight sets. On court four, Tacchi was the first to finish as he quickly handled Jangjun Kim (6-1, 6-0) and became the third Demon Deacon to reach double-digit singles wins this season, joining Pow and fellow graduate student Ioannis Xilas.

Pow, who now leads the team with 14 singles wins to just two losses, clinched the match victory with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Måns Dahlberg on court five. In addition to his team-high 14 wins, Pow also holds the longest winning streak on the squad at nine.

Just moments before Pow clinched, graduate student Franco Capalbo remained perfect on the season (5-0) as he defeated Stiles Brocket (6-1, 6-2) on court six.

Wake Forest is a combined 76-24 in singles and 43-8 in doubles so far this year, taking all 21 doubles points.

How It Happened

In doubles, Tacchi/Pow earned the first break for Wake Forest on court two and went up 2-0.
- Virginia went up an early break on court three while court one remained on-serve.
Suresh/Robertson went up a break and held for the 6-3 victory on court one.
- Virginia evened the score on court two (4-4) and still held a break advantage on three (5-3) as Wake Forest continued to battle.
The doubles point came down to court two as the Cavaliers claimed court three.
Forced into a tiebreak, Tacchi/Pow outlasted Jodar/Hopper 7-6 (10-8) as the Demon Deacons remained perfect on doubles points this season.
In singles, the Demon Deacons went up early breaks on courts two, three, four, five and six.
Pow surged to a quick, 6-0 first-set victory on court five and was shortly followed by Tacchi (6-1) on court four.
Capalbo made it three first sets in favor of the Demon Deacons as he went up on court six (6-1).
- The Cavaliers took the first set on courts one and two, while Robertson was level at 4-4 on three.
Tacchi took control of the second set on four early on and sailed to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kim to put Wake Forest up 2-0.
Virginia took the first set on court three after a tight tiebreak.
The Cavaliers got one back with a victory on court one.
Xilas forced a third set on court two.
The Deacs came one court away from clinching the match as Capalbo put them up 3-1 with a straight-set win on court six.
Pow sealed the deal for Wake Forest with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Måns Dahlberg on court five.
- The remaining two matches went unfinished.

Singles Results
1. No. 18 Rafael Jodar (UVA) def. No. 5 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) 6-2, 6-4
2. No. 65 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) vs. No. 22 Dylan Dietrich (UVA) 3-6, 6-3, unfinished
3. Charlie Robertson (WFU) vs. James Hopper (UVA) 6(5)-7, 2-2, unfinished
4. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Jangjun Kim (UVA) 6-1, 6-0
5. Luca Pow (WFU) def. Måns Dahlberg (UVA) 6-0, 7-5
6. Franco Capalbo (WFU) def. Stiles Brocket (UVA) 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 1, 6, 5

Doubles Results
1. No. 5 Suresh/Robertson (WFU) def. No. 67 Dietrich/Dahlberg (UVA) 6-3
2. No. 6 Tacchi/Pow (WFU) def. Jodar/Hopper (UVA) 7-6 (10-8)
3. Switzer/Kim (UVA) def. Capalbo/Xilas (WFU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

From Coach Bresky
"Getting a road ACC win again against a great team like Virginia is really impressive. We have a lot of respect for their program and what they've done over the last few years. We knew it would be a tough match and that they would give us their best. I feel like we're just growing, building and improving. We played some very good singles today and we're happy to pull it out in time to go home and refresh a little bit. Now we get to enjoy some time off for spring break and we're looking forward to another battle next weekend." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Next Up
The Demon Deacons will now return home for three matches against Miami, Florida State and NC A&T.

Wake Forest will take on the Hurricanes on Friday, March 14 at 5 p.m. before a doubleheader on Sunday against the Seminoles (12 p.m.) and Aggies (4 p.m.).

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Wake Forest Athletics

No. 1 Demon Deacons Handle No. 5 Virginia on the Road

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Players Mentioned

Franco Capalbo

Luca Pow

Charlie Robertson

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Ioannis Xilas

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