No. 1 Demon Deacons Defeat Virginia Tech, Advance to Second Round of ITA Kickoff Weekend

Friday, January 23

Winston-Salem, N.C.

4 p.m.

Wake Forest University

Virginia Tech

No. 1 Demon Deacons Defeat Virginia Tech, Advance to Second Round of ITA Kickoff Weekend

1/23/2026 6:29:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score PDF Results Season Stats Photo Gallery

Wake Forest will now battle Vanderbilt tomorrow at 3 p.m. for a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

By: Dylan Shackelford

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – For the fourth-consecutive season, the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team earned an opening round victory at ITA Kickoff Weekend, as it defeated Virginia Tech 4-0 at home Friday evening inside the Wake Forest Tennis Center.

The Demon Deacons (5-0, 0-0 ACC) will now take on the Vanderbilt Commodores tomorrow at 3 p.m. for a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The event is once again being hosted by Baylor (Waco) and SMU (Dallas) from Feb. 13-17 as Wake Forest will look to become just the sixth team in history to win the tournament three times (2018 and 2025).

After dropping the first doubles point of the season against Texas on Wednesday, the Deacs responded with an impressive opening point against the Hokies and claimed courts one and two for the 1-0 lead.

On court one, the No. 4-ranked pair of senior DK Suresh Ekambaram and redshirt freshman Andrew Delgado earned a 6-1 victory over Shumilov/Hilsen for their first win together this spring. With the result, Suresh is now just one win away from moving into a tie with Todd Paul (2003-07) for the 10th most doubles wins in program history at 84.

A few days after a dominant victory together at Texas, freshman Aryan Shah and sophomore Kacper Szymkowiak paired up again and took down Jurina/Fahim (6-4) on court two to clinch the opening point.

The dominance carried over into singles, where wins on courts three, five and six secured the victory for Wake Forest.

Remaining undefeated in his collegiate dual match career, sophomore Joaquin Guilleme took down Thomás Brandão on court five in dominant fashion, 6-0, 6-1. He is now 4-0 this spring and 13-0 over the last two seasons.

Returning to the singles lineup for the first time since his opening day victory, freshman Dominick Mosejczuk handled Blake Hilsen (6-0, 6-3) on court six and brought the Deacs to within one win away from clinching the match.

Just two days removed from clinching the big road victory over No. 4 Texas, freshman Mees Rottgering did it again as he took down Eyal Shumilov on court three, 6-3, 6-1. He is now 3-0 in singles at the collegiate level and has not dropped a set since his unfinished match on opening day.

The Demon Deacons extended its home match winning streak to 31 following a flawless 2025 campaign at the Wake Forest Tennis Center. Since 2013, Wake Forest has the most home wins (227) in the county and the second-most overall wins (361).

Wake Forest has also begun the season 5-0 for the second-consecutive season and for the third time in four years.

With the win, the Deacs increased their winning streak over the Hokies to 13-consecutive matches and improved to 34-14 in the all-time series against the ACC foe.

Tomorrow will be just the second meeting between the Demon Deacons and Commodores since the turn of the century, with Wake Forest earning a 4-3 home victory in 2018. Additionally, this will be the third SEC opponent for the Deacs this week, with wins over Tennessee and Texas on Sunday and Wednesday, respectively.

How It Happened

In doubles, Suresh and Delgado went up a break early on court one and didn't look back as they claimed a quick 6-1 victory.
- Courts two and three remained on-serve at 3-3 and 2-2, respectively.
The Demon Deacon duos on courts two and three both earned breaks to seize control of doubles play, as Szymkowiak and Shah pulled away late for a 6-4 win on court two to clinch the opening point, while Pow and Rottgering built a 5-4 lead on court three before the match was halted.
Wake Forest carried its momentum into singles as Guilleme and Mosejczuk delivered dominant opening sets on courts five and six, respectively.
Guilleme followed with a flawless performance, cruising to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Thomás Brandão on court five.
Mosejczuk quickly followed on court six, rolling to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Blake Hilsen to move Wake Forest to a win away from clinching.
Just moments later, Rottgering secured the clincher on court three with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Eyal Shumilov to officially lock up the team victory.
- At the time of clinch, Pow was up 6-4, 2-3 against Jurina on court two and Charlie Robertson held a 7-5, 5-2 advantage over Fishback on court four.

Singles Results
1. Aryan Shah (WFU) vs. Ilyas Fahim (VT) 4-6, 2-4, unfinished
2. #15 Luca Pow (WFU) vs. Patrik Jurina (VT) 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
3. Mees Rottgering (WFU) def. Eyal Shumilov (VT) 6-3, 6-1
4. Charlie Robertson (WFU) vs. Drew Fishback (VT) 7-5, 5-2, unfinished
5. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) def. Thomás Brandão (VT) 6-0, 6-1
6. Dominick Mosejczuk (WFU) def. Blake Hilsen (VT) 6-0, 6-3

Order of finish: 5, 6, 3

Doubles Results
1. #4 Suresh/Delgado (WFU) def. Shumilov/Hilsen (VT) 6-1
2. Szymkowiak/Shah (WFU) def. Jurina/Fahim (VT) 6-4
3. Pow/Rottgering (WFU) vs. Thompson/Kimpel (VT) 5-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 1, 2

From Coach Bresky
"We're excited to advance to tomorrow. It's really nice to get back home in front of our fans after being on the road for a little bit. We had a chance to watch a little of the Vanderbilt and North Carolina match. Vanderbilt obviously has a very good team and we're excited to compete with them tomorrow." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Next Up
The Deacs will return to the court tomorrow afternoon to battle the Commodores in the second round at 3 p.m.

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