Demon Deacons Defeat Texas A&M, 4-0, to Reach NCAA Quarterfinals

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C – In front of an electric crowd of over 400 fans, the top-seeded Wake Forest men's tennis team has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships with a 4-0 victory over No. 16-seed Texas A&M Friday evening at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

With the win, the Demon Deacons (37-1) have now reached the quarterfinals five times since 2017, including each of the last two seasons. Wake Forest also extended the program record for wins in a season after surpassing the 2019 team (34).

The Deacs completed a perfect season at home for the second time in four seasons, with the 23 wins at the Wake Forest Tennis Center this campaign marking the second most in program history, only behind 2022's record of 26.

Additionally, the win over the No. 18-ranked Aggies marked the 21st ranked victory of the season for Wake Forest.

The Deacs will now head to Waco, Texas and await the winner of (9) NC State and (8) Columbia for the quarterfinal clash on May 16. Tickets for the NCAA Championships can be purchased here. All matches will be played at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center.

Wake Forest opened the match against the Aggies by winning its 35th doubles point in 38 matches. On court three, the dominant duo of sophomore Luca Pow and senior Luciano Tacchi reunited once again and defeated Perego/Salvestre, 6-4, on court three. The ITA Doubles All-Americans are now 15-4 as a pair this season and entered the tournament ranked as the No. 18-ranked duo.

Graduate student Stefan Dostanic and freshman Charlie Robertson clinched the opening point as they downed Magadan/Pires, 7-6 (7-5), on court two. The two newcomers are perfect (6-0) as a pair and a combined 32-3 in doubles this season overall.

With his 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 85 Alan Magadan in second singles, junior DK Suresh Ekambaram notched his 18th win of the season, the third-most on the team only behind Pow (28) and graduate student Ioannis Xilas (18). It also marked Suresh's team-high 10th ranked win of the spring.

Following up his earlier doubles win, Dostanic earned a dominant 6-3, 6-3 victory on court one over No. 31 Theo Papamalamis. The No. 13-ranked singles player in the nation is now 10-3 overall in a Wake Forest uniform with eight of his 10 wins coming against ranked opponents.

On court five, Tacchi clinched Wake Forest's ticket to Waco as he notched a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory over Togan Tokac. The win moved the Argentine to 14-8 on the season and brought his career singles wins total to 62, the most out of any active player in a Wake Forest uniform in match play. Tacchi has only dropped two matches in his last 15 outings dating back to March 7.

The Demon Deacons are now 128-37 in singles this campaign and 73-19 in doubles.

How It Happened

In doubles, Pow and Tacchi quickly went up a break on court three and set the tone for Wake Forest.
- Courts one and two remained on-serve deep into the match.
The Demon Deacon pair on court three secured the 6-4 victory over Perego/Salvestre.
Dostanic/Robertson and Xilas/Suresh both forced tiebreaks on courts one and two.
Wake Forest clinched the 35th doubles point of the season after a 7-6 (7-5) victory from Dostanic and Robertson over Magadan/Pires.
Suresh was the first Demon Deacon to go up a break in singles on court two.
- Robertson followed and broke the Aggies on court three.
Wake Forest went on to take the first sets, all 6-3, on courts one, two and three as the Deacs continued to take control of the match.
- The Aggies took the first set on court three and six.
Tacchi held strong on court five and took the first set following a tight tiebreak (8-6).
After a dominant second set, Suresh extended Wake Forest's lead to 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory on court two over No. 85 Alan Magadan.
On court one, Dostanic brought the Deacs to within a win away from booking their ticket to Waco, as he defeated No. 31 Theo Papamalamis (6-3, 6-3).
Pow forced a third set on court six with a 6-3 win in the second.
For the second-consecutive season, Tacchi clinched the Super Regional victory with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory on court five over Togan Tokac.
- Courts three, four and six went unfinished.

Singles Results
1. No. 13 Stefan Dostanic (WFU) def. No. 31 Theo Papamalamis (TAMU) 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 9 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) def. No. 85 Alan Magadan (TAMU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Charlie Robertson (WFU) vs. Tiago Pires (TAMU) 6-3, 6-6 (3-5), unfinished
4. No. 123 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) vs. Luke Casper (TAMU) 4-6, 4-5, unfinished
5. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) def. Togan Tokac (TAMU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
6. Luca Pow (WFU) vs. Damien Salvestre (TAMU) 3-6, 6-3, 2-1, unfinished
Order of finish: 2, 1, 5

Doubles Results
1. No. 53 Suresh/Xilas (WFU) vs. No. 4 Tokac/Papamalamis (TAMU) 6-6 (1-3), unfinished
2. No. 26 Dostanic/Robertson (WFU) def. Magadan/Pires (TAMU) 7-6 (7-5)
3. No. 18 Pow/Tacchi (WFU) def. Perego/Salvestre (TAMU) 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 2

From Coach Bresky
"We're glad to get through to Waco. Texas A&M has a really good team, they're very talented. I thought we dug out a good doubles point. We had a couple slow starts in singles, but once we got it rolling, we got it rolling. We felt good about the effort and obviously the crowd never disappoints. Our fans are the best in the country and we knew we couldn't let them down. I'm just super hopeful that a bunch of them make the trip to Waco, because they have been with us the whole way. We're excited to move on."

Next Up
The Demon Deacons have advanced to the NCAA Championships in Waco, Texas from May 16-18. Wake Forest is in line to take on either (9) NC State or (8) Columbia in the quarterfinals. Stay tuned to the Wake Forest Men's Tennis social accounts and GoDeacs.com for more information.

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Demon Deacons Defeat Texas A&M, 4-0, to Reach NCAA Quarterfinals

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Stefan Dostanic

Luca Pow

Charlie Robertson

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Luciano Tacchi

Ioannis Xilas

Wake Forest Athletics