NEW YORK, N.Y. – The No. 2-ranked Wake Forest men’s tennis team continued its perfect start to the season, improving to 10-0 with a 5-2 road win over No. 6 Columbia on Saturday afternoon at the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.
This win marks Wake Forest’s first-ever true road victory over Columbia and improves the team’s record against the Lions to 5-0, dating back to 2010.
Match Highlights
- Doubles Success: Wake Forest secured the doubles point with victories on courts one and three, marking their 10th straight doubles point this season.
- Singles Showdown: Five of the six singles matches went the distance, showcasing the Demon Deacons’ resilience.
Doubles Results
| Court | Wake Forest Pair | Columbia Pair | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No. 30 Suresh/Dostanic | No. 45 Kotzen/Zheng | 6-4 WFU |
| 2 | Tacchi/Pow | No. 86 Westphal/Palta | Unfinished (2-5 CU) |
| 3 | Capalbo/Xilas | No. 62 Hashimoto/Templeman | 6-3 WFU |
- Order of Finish: 1, 3
- Key Performance: Suresh/Dostanic improved to 4-0 together, defeating the No. 45-ranked pair of Kotzen/Zheng.
Singles Results
| Court | Player (Wake Forest) | Player (Columbia) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No. 17 Stefan Dostanic | No. 1 Michael Zheng | 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 CU |
| 2 | DK Suresh Ekambaram | No. 40 Nicolas Kotzen | 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) WFU |
| 3 | Charlie Robertson | Max Westphal | 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 CU |
| 4 | No. 100 Ioannis Xilas | No. 41 Hugo Hashimoto | 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 WFU |
| 5 | Luciano Tacchi | Sachin Palta | 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 WFU |
| 6 | Luca Pow | Thanaphat Boosarawongse | 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 WFU |
- Order of Finish: 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 4
Match-Winning Performance:
- Suresh clinched the match for Wake Forest with a gritty win over No. 40 Kotzen on court two, recovering from a first-set tiebreak loss to win in three sets (6-7, 6-2, 7-6).
Key Performers for Wake Forest
- DK Suresh Ekambaram: The junior delivered a clutch performance on court two, earning his second win against a ranked opponent this season.
- Luca Pow: The freshman secured the only straight-set singles victory of the day, defeating Boosarawongse on court six (7-6, 6-4).
- Ioannis Xilas: Closed out the match with a comeback victory over No. 41 Hashimoto on court four (5-7, 7-5, 6-1), notching his second ranked win of the season.
- Luciano Tacchi: Picked up a win on court five, continuing his strong season.
Pow, Tacchi, and Xilas are now tied for the most singles wins this season with six each.
From Head Coach Tony Bresky
“That was an exciting match. It’s always super tough to beat a top-10 team on the road, and we have a lot of respect for Columbia. The coaches do a great job, they’re ranked No. 6 in the country for a reason. I think this was the biggest match, at least on paper, that they’ve ever hosted at Columbia, so they had a really big crowd and it was fun to play in front of. Our guys did an awesome job handling that. It was a tough, physical match, and we’re happy we were able to gut it out.”
The Demon Deacons will look to maintain their undefeated season and build on their momentum as they head into upcoming matches. With dominant doubles play and strong singles performances, Wake Forest remains one of the most formidable teams in college tennis this season.
