Friday, April 18
Cary, N.C.
3:30 p.m.
Wake Forest University
4
vs
0
Clemson
Top-Seeded Demon Deacons Advance to ACC Semifinals with Win Over Clemson
4/18/2025 7:15:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Wake Forest will now take on fifth-seeded Virginia tomorrow at 2 p.m.
CARY, N.C – Highlighted by a seventh-consecutive victory by freshman Charlie Robertson, the top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team defeated Clemson, 4-0, at Cary Tennis Park in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship Friday afternoon.
The Demon Deacons (34-0) have advanced to the ACC semifinals for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons and will take on Virginia tomorrow at 2 p.m. Of note, tomorrow's semifinal match between the Demon Deacons and Cavaliers will include the two schools that have won 16 of the last 17 ACC Championships dating back to 2007, with the only exception being Florida State last year.
Now with 34 wins, Bresky's squad has now tied the program record for most wins in a single season, previously set by the 2019 team. The Demon Deacons can break the record tomorrow with a win in the semifinals.
Against the Tigers, Wake Forest went with the same doubles lineup as it did last weekend in Raleigh with an almost identical result. Junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and sophomore Luca Pow moved to 4-0 as a pairing this campaign with a 6-3 victory over No. 28 Vukadin/Smith on court one. It marked Suresh's team-high 26th doubles win this season as he moved to 12-1 against ranked duos. Additionally, Pow is second on the team at 19 doubles wins with seven coming against ranked opponents.
Playing together for just the second time, graduate student Stefan Dostanic and freshman Charlie Robertson took down No. 31 Damm/Gales, 6-3, on court two. The two newcomers are a combined 24-3 in doubles this season, with both primarily playing alongside Suresh. This win clinched Wake Forest's 32nd doubles point in 34 matches as the Deacs took a 1-0 lead into singles.
Coming into the tournament as the reigning ACC Freshman of the Week following his heroics last weekend, Robertson has now won seven-straight matches to bring his record to 9-6 on the year as he defeated Marko Mesarovic (7-6[4], 6-0) on court four. The Scot has not lost since Feb. 25 and now holds a perfect 6-0 record against ACC opponents. Of note, Wake Forest hasn't dropped the fourth singles court since Feb. 25 against UNCW and holds an incredible 22-2 record overall.
A few days after securing his second ACC Player of the Week award, Dostanic continued his dominant season for the Demon Deacons as he earned a 7-5, 6-3 victory on court one over No. 50 Noa Vukadin. The No. 13-ranked player in the nation is now 8-2 in a Wake Forest uniform with seven of his eight wins coming against ranked opponents, including six wins over players inside the top 50.
Graduate student Ioannis Xilas clinched the match for Wake Forest as he downed Romain Gales (6-1, 7-5) on court three. The Greek ranks second on the team with 17 singles wins behind only Pow (26). Of note, the Demon Deacons are now 117-32 in singles this campaign and 66-17 in doubles.
With Friday's victory, the Deacs completed the double over Clemson this season and improved to 38-29 all-time against the Tigers with 16-consecutive wins in the series dating back to 2012.
Wake Forest's Path to an ACC Championship
2025 ACC Men's Tennis Tournament
One-day tickets are priced at $15 for adults (ages 18 and older) and $10 for children ages 17 and under and non-ACC college students with a valid school ID. Admission is free for children 8 and under and ACC college students with a school ID. A full championship pass for all six days is priced at $30. Tickets may be purchased online here.
How It Happened
1. No. 13 Stefan Dostanic (WFU) def. No. 50 Noa Vukadin (CU) 7-5, 6-3
2. No. 10 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) vs. Viktor Markov (CU) 7-5 (7-5), 5-4, unfinished
3. No. 121 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) def. Romain Gales (CU) 6-1, 7-5
4. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Marko Mesarovic (CU) 7-6(7-4), 6-0
5. Luca Pow (WFU) vs. Maxwell Smith (CU) 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
6. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) vs. Edoardo Cherie Ligniere (CU) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 1, 3
Doubles Results
1. No. 58 Suresh/Pow (WFU) def. No. 28 Vukadin/Smith (CU) 6-3
2. No. 77 Dostanic/Robertson (WFU) def. No. 31 Damm/Gales (CU) 6-3
3. Markov/Pitts (CU) def. Tacchi/Capalbo (WFU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
From Coach Bresky
"Great start to the tournament. I think it's really incredible what ACC as a whole has done this year where we go into the tournament as the number one team in the country and have to play the number 20 team in the country in the quarterfinals. There's no easy ones here. We knew we had to be ready., obviously Clemson is coming off a great season and grabbed a great win yesterday. I think the boys knew that and they were ready to go. We were able to pull out a good doubles point and then got off to some great starts in singles and rode the momentum to a good win. It's nice to get through that one and we're excited to play in the semifinal."
Saturday's Matchup - Virginia
The Demon Deacons will return to the courts tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the ACC semifinals against fifth-seeded Virginia. The Cavaliers come into the tournament as the No. 6-ranked team in the country. This will be the second meeting between the two schools this season with Wake Forest taking the first, 4-1, in Charlottesville on March 9.
The match will be shown live on ACCNX with live results available here.
Ranked Cavaliers
Singles
Doubles
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The Demon Deacons (34-0) have advanced to the ACC semifinals for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons and will take on Virginia tomorrow at 2 p.m. Of note, tomorrow's semifinal match between the Demon Deacons and Cavaliers will include the two schools that have won 16 of the last 17 ACC Championships dating back to 2007, with the only exception being Florida State last year.
Now with 34 wins, Bresky's squad has now tied the program record for most wins in a single season, previously set by the 2019 team. The Demon Deacons can break the record tomorrow with a win in the semifinals.
Against the Tigers, Wake Forest went with the same doubles lineup as it did last weekend in Raleigh with an almost identical result. Junior DK Suresh Ekambaram and sophomore Luca Pow moved to 4-0 as a pairing this campaign with a 6-3 victory over No. 28 Vukadin/Smith on court one. It marked Suresh's team-high 26th doubles win this season as he moved to 12-1 against ranked duos. Additionally, Pow is second on the team at 19 doubles wins with seven coming against ranked opponents.
Playing together for just the second time, graduate student Stefan Dostanic and freshman Charlie Robertson took down No. 31 Damm/Gales, 6-3, on court two. The two newcomers are a combined 24-3 in doubles this season, with both primarily playing alongside Suresh. This win clinched Wake Forest's 32nd doubles point in 34 matches as the Deacs took a 1-0 lead into singles.
Coming into the tournament as the reigning ACC Freshman of the Week following his heroics last weekend, Robertson has now won seven-straight matches to bring his record to 9-6 on the year as he defeated Marko Mesarovic (7-6[4], 6-0) on court four. The Scot has not lost since Feb. 25 and now holds a perfect 6-0 record against ACC opponents. Of note, Wake Forest hasn't dropped the fourth singles court since Feb. 25 against UNCW and holds an incredible 22-2 record overall.
A few days after securing his second ACC Player of the Week award, Dostanic continued his dominant season for the Demon Deacons as he earned a 7-5, 6-3 victory on court one over No. 50 Noa Vukadin. The No. 13-ranked player in the nation is now 8-2 in a Wake Forest uniform with seven of his eight wins coming against ranked opponents, including six wins over players inside the top 50.
Graduate student Ioannis Xilas clinched the match for Wake Forest as he downed Romain Gales (6-1, 7-5) on court three. The Greek ranks second on the team with 17 singles wins behind only Pow (26). Of note, the Demon Deacons are now 117-32 in singles this campaign and 66-17 in doubles.
With Friday's victory, the Deacs completed the double over Clemson this season and improved to 38-29 all-time against the Tigers with 16-consecutive wins in the series dating back to 2012.
Wake Forest's Path to an ACC Championship
- Friday, April 18 - Quarterfinals
- (1) Wake Forest def. (8) Clemson, 4-0
- Saturday, April 19 - Semifinals
- 2 p.m. - (1) Wake Forest vs. (5) Virginia
- Sunday, April 20 - Championship
- 2 p.m. - (1) Wake Forest* vs. TBD
2025 ACC Men's Tennis Tournament
One-day tickets are priced at $15 for adults (ages 18 and older) and $10 for children ages 17 and under and non-ACC college students with a valid school ID. Admission is free for children 8 and under and ACC college students with a school ID. A full championship pass for all six days is priced at $30. Tickets may be purchased online here.
How It Happened
- The first break of the afternoon came on court three, as Capalbo and Tacchi went up early on Markov and Pitts.
- Not long after, the Demon Deacons took full control as Dostanic and Robertson went up 3-1 on court two while court one remained level at 2-2.
- The Tigers brought it back level on court three, but the Deacs continued to hold the momentum as doubles progressed.
- Suresh and Pow broke the Tigers on court one and put themselves in position to serve for the match at 5-3.
- The opening point would come down to court three as Pow/Suresh closed out first doubles (6-3) right before Clemson claimed three.
- For the 32nd time this season, the Deacs took a 1-0 following Dostanic and Robertson's 6-3 victory over No. 31 Damm/Gales.
- In singles, Xilas and Tacchi got off to fast starts on courts three and six, respectively as both took early leads in the first set.
- The Greek was the first to take a set as he did so in dominant, 6-1 fashion.
- On court five, Pow was the second Demon Deacon to head into the second set with the advantage, as he took the first, 6-3, over Smith.
- Dostanic (7-5) and Tacchi (6-3) kept the momentum swinging in the Deacs favor with two more first sets.
- Wake Forest took all six first sets after tiebreak wins from Suresh (7-6[5]) and Robertson (7-6[4])
- The freshman dominated in the second set and put the Deacs up 2-0 with a 7-6(4), 6-0 victory on court four.
- Dostanic continued to prove why he was one of the nations best as he moved Wake Forest to within a court away from the semifinals as he downed No. 50 Vukadin, 7-5, 6-3.
- The Demon Deacons clinched on court three courtesy of Xilas with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Gales.
- Courts two, five and six went unfinished with all three Deacs coming close to wins.
1. No. 13 Stefan Dostanic (WFU) def. No. 50 Noa Vukadin (CU) 7-5, 6-3
2. No. 10 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) vs. Viktor Markov (CU) 7-5 (7-5), 5-4, unfinished
3. No. 121 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) def. Romain Gales (CU) 6-1, 7-5
4. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Marko Mesarovic (CU) 7-6(7-4), 6-0
5. Luca Pow (WFU) vs. Maxwell Smith (CU) 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
6. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) vs. Edoardo Cherie Ligniere (CU) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
Order of finish: 4, 1, 3
Doubles Results
1. No. 58 Suresh/Pow (WFU) def. No. 28 Vukadin/Smith (CU) 6-3
2. No. 77 Dostanic/Robertson (WFU) def. No. 31 Damm/Gales (CU) 6-3
3. Markov/Pitts (CU) def. Tacchi/Capalbo (WFU) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
From Coach Bresky
"Great start to the tournament. I think it's really incredible what ACC as a whole has done this year where we go into the tournament as the number one team in the country and have to play the number 20 team in the country in the quarterfinals. There's no easy ones here. We knew we had to be ready., obviously Clemson is coming off a great season and grabbed a great win yesterday. I think the boys knew that and they were ready to go. We were able to pull out a good doubles point and then got off to some great starts in singles and rode the momentum to a good win. It's nice to get through that one and we're excited to play in the semifinal."
Saturday's Matchup - Virginia
The Demon Deacons will return to the courts tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the ACC semifinals against fifth-seeded Virginia. The Cavaliers come into the tournament as the No. 6-ranked team in the country. This will be the second meeting between the two schools this season with Wake Forest taking the first, 4-1, in Charlottesville on March 9.
The match will be shown live on ACCNX with live results available here.
Ranked Cavaliers
Singles
| Rafael Jodar | 6 |
| Dylan Dietrich | 26 |
| James Hopper/Keegan Rice | 23 |
| Mans Dahlberg/Dylan Dietrich | 30 |
| James Hopper/Rafael Jodar | 85 |
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Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
12
Noa Vukadin / 0 (50/-) [CU]
53
76
#2 Singles Match
123
Viktor Markov / 0 [CU]
640
75UF
#3 Singles Match
12
Romain Gales / 0 [CU]
15
67
#4 Singles Match
12
Marko Mesarovic / 0 [CU]
60
76
#5 Singles Match
123
Max Smith / 0 [CU]
350
65UF
#6 Singles Match
123
Edoardo Ligniere / 0 [CU]
340
65UF
Order of Finish:
4,1,3
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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