No. 3 Demon Deacons Drop Heartbreaker at Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. – Suffering its first defeat in conference play in two years, the No. 3-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team dropped a 4-3 contest to No. 25 Stanford Friday evening at the Arrillaga Tennis Center.

With just two matches remaining in the regular season, the Demon Deacons (25-3, 10-1 ACC) still control their own destiny in the ACC regular season title race as they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Virginia.

ACC Standings Through 11 Matches

# Team ACC Record ACC Win % Overall Record Overall Win % 1. Wake Forest 10-1 .909 25-3 .893 2. Virginia 10-1 .909 18-3 .857 3. NC State 8-3 .727 16-4 .800 4. Notre Dame 8-3 .727 19-5 .792 5. Stanford 7-4 .634 14-7 .667 6. SMU 7-4 .634 17-9 .654

The Deacs took the opening point for the 25th time this season and for the 16th consecutive match, including all 11 in ACC play, with wins on courts one and two.

Senior DK Suresh Ekambaram and redshirt freshman Andrew Delgado, the No. 4-ranked doubles pair in the country, stayed perfect on the year following a 7-5 victory over No. 21 Chang/Razeghi on court one. This marked their third ranked win of the season and second in the last three matches.

With the win, Suresh is now one away from being tied for fourth in program history in career doubles wins with Steven Foreman (2007-10) at 94. Additionally, Delgado is now 14-0 overall in doubles this spring to go along with a 6-0 singles mark.

Career Doubles Wins - Wake Forest History

Rank Name Years Wins 4. Steven Forman 2007-10 94 5. DK Suresh 2023-Pres. 93 T6. Trent Brendon 2000-03 92 T6. David Hopkins 2008-13 92 T8. Luca Pow 2023-Pres. 88 T8. Raul Munoz 1998-2001 88 T8. Brent Ross 1992-96 88 T8. Petros Chrysochos 2016-19 88 12. Todd Paul 2003-07 84

On the second doubles court, sophomore Kacper Szymkowiak and freshman Mees Rottgering clinched the opening point for the third-consecutive match with a 7-6(3) win against Godsick/Rivera to remain perfect (8-0) as a pair.

In singles, the Cardinal took courts two, four, five and six to secure the win, while the Deacs claimed courts one and three.

Approaching the program's top 10 with 95 career singles victories, Pow moved to 17-3 on the season after a dominant 7-5, 6-0 win over Nico Godsick on court three. Over the past three years, he has now totaled 183 combined singles and doubles wins, the most among active Wake Forest players. Notably, Pow has won 12 straight matches and has not suffered a defeat since mid-February.

Building off his doubles win, Suresh delivered a strong 6-4, 7-5 victory over Samir Banerjee on court one to extend Wake Forest's lead to 3-0. With 67 career singles wins, the highly decorated senior continues to solidify his place among the program's all-time greats.

How It Happened

The doubles point was tightly contested throughout, with all three courts sitting at 5-5 early in the action.

Wake Forest broke through in the clutch, as Suresh/Delgado secured a 7-5 win on court one before Rottgering/Szymkowiak clinched the point with a 7-6(3) tiebreak victory on court two.

Singles play opened with little separation across the lineup.

Suresh and Shah each built 4-2 leads in their opening sets, while courts two, three and five remained even at 3-3.

Stanford held the early advantage on court six.

Wake Forest picked up first sets on courts one (6-4) and five (6-4), while Stanford answered with leads on courts four and six.

Rottgering and Pow were both locked at 5-5 in their first sets.

Pow closed strong with a 7-5 opening set before cruising to a 6-0 second set win on court three to put the Deacs on the board.

Suresh followed with a 6-4, 7-5 victory on court one, giving Wake Forest a 3-0 lead and putting the match within reach.

Stanford responded with a straight-set win on court two and began to shift momentum across the remaining courts.

Courts four, five and six all moved into third sets as the Cardinal fought back into the match.

Stanford completed the comeback with three-set victories on courts five, four and six to secure the 4-3 decision.

Singles Results

1. #22 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) def. Samir Banerjee (STAN) 6-4, 7-5

2. Alex Razeghi (STAN) def. #46 Mees Rottgering (WFU) 7-6(5), 7-6(5)

3. #28 Luca Pow (WFU) def. Nico Godsick (STAN) 7-5, 6-0

4. #57 Hudson Rivera (STAN) def. Charlie Robertson (WFU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

5. Alex Chang (STAN) def. #89 Aryan Shah (WFU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

6. Jagger Leach (STAN) def. Joaquin Guilleme (WFU) 6-4, 6(2)-7, 7-6(4)

Order of finish: 3, 1, 2, 5, 4, 6

Doubles Results

1. #4 Delgado/Suresh (WFU) def. #21 Chang/Razeghi (STAN) 7-5

2. Rottgering/Szymkowiak (WFU) def. Godsick/Rivera (STAN) 7-6(3)

3. Krupkin/Leach (STAN) def. #51 Pow/Roberson (WFU) 7-6(4)

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

From Coach Bresky

"Really tough match on the road in the ACC. It just wasn't our night. We've had a great run, and you have to give a lot of credit to Stanford. It's a beautiful new facility, and we were honored to help them open it. They had a great crowd, and we knew they were going to come out inspired in their first match there and they certainly did. They were better than us in the big moments. It's a great learning experience for our group. We're still in a strong position in the ACC, and we're looking forward to another tough battle with Cal on Sunday." – Head coach Tony Bresky

Up Next

The Demon Deacons will remain in California for a battle against Cal on Sunday (April 5) before returning home for Suresh's senior day against NC State in the regular season finale on Saturday, April 11.

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