No. 1 Demon Deacons Down Tennessee on the Road

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Highlighted by the collegiate debut of freshman Aryan Shah, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team secured its first road win of 2026 as it took down Tennessee, 4-1, Sunday inside the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

With the win, Wake Forest has now started the season 3-0 for the fourth time in the last five years and extended its road winning streak to 16-consecutive matches dating back to March of 2024. Since 2013, Wake Forest has recorded second-most wins in the country (359).

The Demon Deacons (3-0, 0-0 ACC) continued its dominance in doubles, as it took the opening point with wins on courts one and two.

In his highly-anticipated collegiate debut, Shah teamed up with junior Luca Pow as the two cruised to a 6-1 victory over Garcia/Skierkier on court two.

Making his season debut, DK Suresh picked up where he left off a year ago and clinched the doubles point alongside Charlie Robertson with a 6-4 win on court one against Siekanowicz/Cazacu. The dynamic duo moved to 11-1 as a pair after earning All-American honors together in 2025.

Wake Forest then carried that momentum into singles, where it closed out the match with wins on courts three, four and six.

Freshman Mees Rottgering secured his first singles win at the collegiate level following a dominant second-set. He took down Ethan Muza on court four, 6-3, 6-0 and gave Wake Forest a 2-0 lead and the momentum.

Opening 2026 with three wins in three matches, sophomore Joaquin Guilleme improved to 12-0 in match play throughout his young career as he extended Wake Forest's advantage with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Boruch Skierkier on court six. Additionally, he is the first Demon Deacon to reach three singles wins this campaign.

As he did in doubles, Pow controlled his singles match as he claimed a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Jose Garcia on court three. Overall, Pow is now 80-16 in singles and 74-18 in doubles as a Demon Deacon over the last three years. Additionally, he has now won seven-consecutive dual matches and 28 of his last 29.

Wake Forest has now earned back-to-back wins over Tennessee for the first time since it had a stretch of four-consecutive wins in the series from 2015-2017. Additionally, this marked the third-ever win in Knoxville for the Demon Deacons and first since 2017.

How It Happened

Shah made an immediate impact in his collegiate debut as he and Pow earned the first break of the day on court two to go up 3-1.
- Robertson and Suresh followed a few minutes later as Wake Forest took control of doubles early.
The Demon Deacon pair on court two closed out a quick 6-1 shortly before Suresh/Robertson picked up a massive break to go up 5-4 on court one.
- They held on to secure the doubles point with a 6-4 victory.
In singles, Pow jumped out to an early 4-0 lead while the other five courts remained tight.
The rest of the Demon Deacons began to pull away in the first set, as five of the six Wake Forest players held a break advantage.
- Pow was the first to take a set as he did so in 6-1 fashion on court three.
The rest of the first sets started rolling in with Suresh, Rottgering and Robertson all closing out theirs, 6-3.
- Guilleme followed with a 6-4 first-set victory of his own on court six, while Shah came back from a break down to make it 6-of-6 first sets for the Demon Deacons.
Rottgering and Guilleme came out hot in their respective second sets and quickly gave Wake Forest a 3-0 lead.
- Rottgering took court four with a 6-3, 6-0 win just before Guilleme picked up his second win of the season on court six, 6-4, 6-1.
Suresh and Pow were forced into third sets on courts one and three, respectively.
- Shah and Robertson entered a third a few moments later.
The Volunteers got one back and took court one while the other three courts were in tight three-set battles.
Pow came up big and clinched the match for the Deacs with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory on court three.

Singles Results
1. #121 Alejandro Moreno (UT) def. #12 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Aryan Shah (WFU) vs. Dragos Cazacu (UT) 7-5, 5-7, 0-1, unfinished
3. #15 Luca Pow (WFU) def. Jose Garcia (UT) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
4. Mees Rottgering (WFU) def. Ethan Muza (UT) 6-3, 6-0
5. Charlie Robertson (WFU) vs. Jan Kobierski (UT) 6-3, 5-7, 4-2, unfinished
6. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) def. Boruch Skierkier (UT) 6-4, 6-1

Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 3

Doubles Results
1. Suresh/Robertson (WFU) def. Siekanowicz/Cazacu (UT) 6-4
2. Pow/Shah (WFU) def. Garcia/Skierkier (UT) 6-1
3. Mosejczuk/Szymkowiak (WFU) vs. Muza/Moreno (UT) 3-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 1

From Coach Bresky
"We're excited to pick up the big road win. Tennessee has a very good program and it's always tough when you go on the road, especially to start the season. I think we have a very talented team, but a very new and young team. We had a few new guys in the lineup that hadn't really played from last year. Even for the older guys, it's always different getting back to dual match form.

Tennessee did a really good job, they had a great crowd. I have to thank our fans for the people who traveled here. We had a great crowd on hand, which is tough, making the four-hour drive in the morning and back. We have very loyal fans and we appreciate that. Now we're excited to hit the road again tomorrow to go play Texas." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Next Up
Wake Forest will remain on the road for another tough SEC test, as it visits No. 2 Texas on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

The Deacs will return home for ITA Kickoff Weekend (Jan. 23-24) as it welcomes Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and North Carolina to the ITC for a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

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Players Mentioned

Joaquin Guilleme

Luca Pow

Charlie Robertson

Mees Rottgering

Aryan Shah

DK Suresh Ekambaram

Wake Forest Athletics