No. 1 Wake Forest Falls on Road to No. 6 Ohio State

Sunday, February 1

Columbus, Ohio

2 p.m.

Wake Forest University

Ohio State

2/1/2026 4:39:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score PDF Results Season Stats

The Demon Deacons will return to action at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships from Feb. 13-17.

By: Dylan Shackelford

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 1-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team (6-1, 0-0 ACC) dropped its first match of the 2026 campaign Sunday, as it fell to No. 6 Ohio State, 4-0, on the road inside the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

In doubles, senior DK Suresh Ekambaram and redshirt freshman Andrew Delgado, the No. 4-ranked pair in the country, earned a 6-2 victory over No. 10 Okonkwo/Bernard for their second win together this spring and improved to 8-2 as a pair since the start of the fall with six wins coming against ranked opponents.

With the result, Suresh is now in sole position for the 10th most doubles wins in program history at 85, surpassing Todd Paul (2003-07).

When the match concluded, sophomore Charlie Robertson and freshman Aryan Shah were both up a set and even in the second, while Suresh forced No. 5-ranked Aidan Kim into a third set on court one.

How It Happened

In doubles, the Buckeyes went up early on courts two and three, while Delgado and Suresh went up a break (4-2) on one.
- The opening point would come down to court three as Suresh/Delgado evened it up with a 6-2 win after Ohio State claimed court two.
- The Buckeyes would go on to take the 1-0 advantage headed into singles.
All six courts remained tight through the opening 20 minutes of singles play.
Robertson battled to a 7-5 first-set victory on court five followed by Shah (7-6) on court two.
- Ohio State took the first sets on the other four courts.
Suresh responded with a solid second-set and forced No. 5 Kim into a third.
Ohio State secured the first singles point on court four before it extended the lead to 3-0 with another win on two.
Ohio State clinched the match on court six.
- Play was halted on the remaining courts, with Suresh trailing 2-0 in the third set on court one, Shah locked at 2-2 in the second on court three and Robertson even at 3-3 in the second on court five.

Singles Results
1. #12 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) vs. #5 Aidan Kim (OSU) 2-6, 6-4, 0-2, unfinished
2. #51 Preston Stearns (OSU) def. #15 Luca Pow (WFU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Aryan Shah (WFU) vs. #22 Jack Anthrop (OSU) 7-6(6), 2-2, unfinished
4. Bryce Nakashima (OSU) def. Mees Rottgering (WFU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Charlie Robertson (WFU) vs. Loren Byers (OSU) 7-5, 3-3, unfinished
6.#42 Nikita Filin (OSU) def. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) 7-6(3), 6-4

Order of finish: 4, 2, 6

Doubles Results
1. #4 Delgado/Suresh (WFU) def. #10 Okonkwo/Bernard (OSU) 6-2
2. #5 Filin/Carpico (OSU) def. Szymkowiak/Shah (WFU) 6-1
3. #3 Nakashima/Kim (OSU) def. Pow/Robertson (WFU) 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

From Coach Bresky
"Credit to Ohio State, they had a really good crowd and they were really prepared. It's a great learning experience for our guys. We have a young team that's growing and learning. If I know the group that we have, they're going to use this as tremendous motivation to get better. I think we're going to have an amazing two weeks in our preparation for national indoors. I know they'll be very excited to get back to competing as soon as possible, as this one will obviously sting for a little." - Head coach Tony Bresky

Next Up
The Demon Deacons will be making their fifth-consecutive appearance at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which is once again being hosted by Baylor (Waco) and SMU (Dallas) and will run from Feb. 13-17.

Wake Forest will look to become just the sixth team in history to win the indoor team title on three occasions following triumphs in 2018 and 2025. The Deacs could also become the eighth team to claim the crown in back-to-back seasons and the second team to do so as a member of the ACC.

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