Wednesday, January 21
Austin, Texas
6:30 p.m. (ET)
Wake Forest University
4
at
2
Texas
No. 1 Demon Deacons Come Out on Top in Exciting Road Victory at No. 4 Texas
1/21/2026 9:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The win marked the 400th of Tony Bresky’s head coaching career.
AUSTIN, Texas – Marking the 400th career win for head coach Tony Bresky, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team picked up its first ranked victory of the season as it defeated No. 4-ranked Texas on the road inside the Weller Tennis Center Wednesday evening.
Already the winningest coach in program history, Bresky now has 374 victories at Wake Forest, in addition to a 26-win season at Cornell in 2010.
Wake Forest (4-0, 0-0 ACC) continued its dominance against the nation's elite, building on a historic 2025 season that featured a perfect 7-0 mark against top-five opponents. The Demon Deacons also finished that campaign with a program-record 25 wins over ranked opponents, a standard they carried into Wednesday's statement road victory against the Longhorns (2-2, 0-0 SEC).
The Demon Deacons dropped the opening point for the first time this season, as the Longhorns took courts one and three. Freshmen Kacper Szymkowiak and Aryan Shah earned a 6-2 victory over Brown/Braswell on court two for their first win together as a pair.
Despite going into singles down 1-0, Wake Forest battled back and secured the top-five victory with wins on courts two, three, four and five.
Shah continued the impressive start to his Wake Forest career with his first collegiate singles victory as he cut the deficit to 2-1 with a straight-set win (6-4, 6-3) on court two over Kalin Ivanovski. Not long after, junior standout Luca Pow leveled the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Abel Forger on court three and improved to 3-0 on the year.
Pow is now 82-16 in singles and 76-18 in doubles as a Demon Deacon over the last three years. Additionally, he has now won eight-consecutive dual matches and 29 of his last 30.
On court five, sophomore Charlie Robertson picked up where he left off after a stellar freshman campaign with his first win of 2026, as he downed Jonah Braswell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 to move the Deacs to within one win away from clinching.
After picking up his first collegiate victory on Sunday against Tennessee, freshman Mees Rottgering came up clutch for Wake Forest against the Longhorns. The Dutchman battled back in the second-set tiebreak against No. 25 Sebastian Eriksson (6-3, 7-6[3]) and clinched the top-five win for the Deacs.
Also with the win, the Demon Deacons earned just their second victory all-time in Austin and first since 2017. While Texas still holds the overall edge in the all-time series, Wake Forest has now claimed five of the last eight meetings dating back to 2017.
Wake Forest also extended its remarkable road form, pushing its away winning streak to 17 matches following a flawless 10-0 record in true road contests during the 2025 season. Since 2013, the Demon Deacons own the second-most overall wins in the nation (360), further cementing their place among college tennis' most successful programs.
How It Happened
Singles Results
1. #39 Sebastian Gorzny (UT) def. #12 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Aryan Shah (WFU) def. Kalin Ivanovski (UT) 6-4, 6-3
3. #15 Luca Pow (WFU) def. Abel Forger (UT) 6-4, 6-3
4. Mees Rottgering (WFU) def. #25 Sebastian Eriksson (UT) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
5. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Jonah Braswell (UT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) vs. Mariano Dedura-Palomero (UT) 5-1, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 5, 4
Doubles Results
1. Ivanovski/Forger (UT) def. Suresh/Robertson (WFU) 6-3
2. Szymkowiak/Shah (WFU) def. Brown/Braswell (UT) 6-2
3. Gorzny/Marionneau (UT) def. Pow/Rottgering (WFU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
From Coach Bresky
"Obviously a very fun match, which is easy to say when you come out on top. I enjoy competing with Texas. They had a really big crowd and they came out firing in doubles, but it was a little closer in the score. We lost two deuce points there on court one at 4-3 and 5-3. If you get in a hole on the road, it's always going to be tough and I was super impressed with our guys. It's great for both teams to get a really competitive match. We feel fortunate that we came out on top. We're really challenging the guys early to start the year with a couple of the pro events at home and a couple of tough road matches. This will be a great learning experience for us and we're excited to get home and play Friday and Saturday in front of the best fans in the country." - Head coach Tony Bresky
Next Up
The Deacs will now 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.
On Friday, Vanderbilt and North Carolina will battle at 1 p.m. before the Demon Deacons take the court against the Hokies at 5 p.m. The winners of both matches will play at 5 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the indoor championships.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Already the winningest coach in program history, Bresky now has 374 victories at Wake Forest, in addition to a 26-win season at Cornell in 2010.
Wake Forest (4-0, 0-0 ACC) continued its dominance against the nation's elite, building on a historic 2025 season that featured a perfect 7-0 mark against top-five opponents. The Demon Deacons also finished that campaign with a program-record 25 wins over ranked opponents, a standard they carried into Wednesday's statement road victory against the Longhorns (2-2, 0-0 SEC).
The Demon Deacons dropped the opening point for the first time this season, as the Longhorns took courts one and three. Freshmen Kacper Szymkowiak and Aryan Shah earned a 6-2 victory over Brown/Braswell on court two for their first win together as a pair.
Despite going into singles down 1-0, Wake Forest battled back and secured the top-five victory with wins on courts two, three, four and five.
Shah continued the impressive start to his Wake Forest career with his first collegiate singles victory as he cut the deficit to 2-1 with a straight-set win (6-4, 6-3) on court two over Kalin Ivanovski. Not long after, junior standout Luca Pow leveled the match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Abel Forger on court three and improved to 3-0 on the year.
Pow is now 82-16 in singles and 76-18 in doubles as a Demon Deacon over the last three years. Additionally, he has now won eight-consecutive dual matches and 29 of his last 30.
On court five, sophomore Charlie Robertson picked up where he left off after a stellar freshman campaign with his first win of 2026, as he downed Jonah Braswell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 to move the Deacs to within one win away from clinching.
After picking up his first collegiate victory on Sunday against Tennessee, freshman Mees Rottgering came up clutch for Wake Forest against the Longhorns. The Dutchman battled back in the second-set tiebreak against No. 25 Sebastian Eriksson (6-3, 7-6[3]) and clinched the top-five win for the Deacs.
Also with the win, the Demon Deacons earned just their second victory all-time in Austin and first since 2017. While Texas still holds the overall edge in the all-time series, Wake Forest has now claimed five of the last eight meetings dating back to 2017.
Wake Forest also extended its remarkable road form, pushing its away winning streak to 17 matches following a flawless 10-0 record in true road contests during the 2025 season. Since 2013, the Demon Deacons own the second-most overall wins in the nation (360), further cementing their place among college tennis' most successful programs.
How It Happened
- In doubles, Texas went up a break early on court three, while courts one and two remained on serve through the opening games.
- The Longhorns would go on to take court three, 6-1.
- After earning a break to go up 5-2, Szymkowiak and Shah held on to take court two.
- The Longhorns claimed the opening point with a victory on court one.
- Suresh and Shah both went up a break early in singles on courts one and two, respectively.
- Rottgering would soon follow as he went up 3-1 on court four.
- Texas took the first set of the evening on court one, but the Demon Deacons responded and won the first sets on courts 2-5, which took control of the match and the momentum.
- Charlie Robertson delivered a key straight-set victory on court five to put the Demon Deacons in front, setting the stage for Rottgering's clinching effort.
- Rottgering sealed the match on court four, battling through a second-set tiebreak to secure the decisive point and cap the comeback victory.
- Guilleme's match went unfinished, with him leading 5-1 in the first set.
Singles Results
1. #39 Sebastian Gorzny (UT) def. #12 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Aryan Shah (WFU) def. Kalin Ivanovski (UT) 6-4, 6-3
3. #15 Luca Pow (WFU) def. Abel Forger (UT) 6-4, 6-3
4. Mees Rottgering (WFU) def. #25 Sebastian Eriksson (UT) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
5. Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Jonah Braswell (UT) 6-3, 6-3
6. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) vs. Mariano Dedura-Palomero (UT) 5-1, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 5, 4
Doubles Results
1. Ivanovski/Forger (UT) def. Suresh/Robertson (WFU) 6-3
2. Szymkowiak/Shah (WFU) def. Brown/Braswell (UT) 6-2
3. Gorzny/Marionneau (UT) def. Pow/Rottgering (WFU) 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
From Coach Bresky
"Obviously a very fun match, which is easy to say when you come out on top. I enjoy competing with Texas. They had a really big crowd and they came out firing in doubles, but it was a little closer in the score. We lost two deuce points there on court one at 4-3 and 5-3. If you get in a hole on the road, it's always going to be tough and I was super impressed with our guys. It's great for both teams to get a really competitive match. We feel fortunate that we came out on top. We're really challenging the guys early to start the year with a couple of the pro events at home and a couple of tough road matches. This will be a great learning experience for us and we're excited to get home and play Friday and Saturday in front of the best fans in the country." - Head coach Tony Bresky
Next Up
The Deacs will now 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.
On Friday, Vanderbilt and North Carolina will battle at 1 p.m. before the Demon Deacons take the court against the Hokies at 5 p.m. The winners of both matches will play at 5 p.m. Saturday for a spot in the indoor championships.
Follow the Deacs:
GoDeacs.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
34
Sebastian Gorzny / 0 (39/-) [TEX]
66
#2 Singles Match
12
66
Kalin Ivanovski / 0 [TEX]
43
#3 Singles Match
12
66
Abel Forger / 0 [TEX]
43
#4 Singles Match
12
67
Sebastian Eriksson / 0 (25/-) [TEX]
36
#5 Singles Match
12
66
Jonah Braswell / 0 [TEX]
33
#6 Singles Match
12
50
M Dedura-Palomero / 0 [TEX]
1UF
Order of Finish:
1,2,3,5,4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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