WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A hard-fought road contest at No. 14 Wake Forest saw the sixth-ranked Tennessee men’s tennis team fall in a 4-3 decision Sunday afternoon.
The Vols won the doubles point behind a 6-2 effort from Johannus Monday and Pat Harper over Wake Forest’s 30th-ranked duo of Juan Lopez de Azcona and Filippo Moroni on court one and a clinching 6-3 court-three victory by Shunsuke Mitsui and Angel Diaz over Melios Efstathiou and Matthew Thomson. For Monday and Harper, it marked the duo’s first-ever doubles pairing, while Mitsui and Diaz teamed up for the first time since the 2021 fall season and improve to 6-1 as a duo.
Mitsui and Diaz went up an early break at 2-1 thanks to Mitsui’s powerful down-the-line return and overcame a 0-40 deficit in the ensuing game to remain a break up at 3-1. A doubles-clinching break in the ninth game resulted in the 6-3 scoreline at No. 3 doubles.
Tennessee (4-2) opened up a 2-0 advantage over Wake Forest (5-0) when Tennessee’s #59 Mitsui won a straight-set affair at the No. 2 singles position over Filippo Moroni, 6-4, 6-3. Mitsui, down a break at 1-3 in the opening set, roared back by winning five of the set’s final six games. Mitsui went up a break at 4-2 in the second set before winning the match. Sunday marked Mitsui’s first career appearance at No. 2 singles, capturing his fourth career singles win at the top two lineup spots. Mitsui improves to 28-5 in career dual singles matches and 48-12 overall in singles play.
The Demon Deacons evened the match at 2-2 with wins on courts five and one. Tennessee’s Diaz took down Lopez de Azcona of Wake Forest in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles to give UT a 3-2 lead. Wake Forest garnered wins at No. 4 and 3 singles with a three-set win and a second-set tiebreak victory, respectively, to clinch the tight match.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to Knoxville to compete in the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend, serving as a host of the event. Play for the Vols begins with Louisiana on Friday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. ET in Goodfriend Tennis Center and continues Saturday, Jan. 28 against either Oklahoma or Charlotte. The winner of the event qualifies for the ITA Indoor National Championship, slated for Feb. 17-20 in Chicago, Ill.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Johannus Monday/Pat Harper (UT) def. #30 Juan Lopez de Azcona/Filippo Moroni (WFU) 6-2
2. Luciano Tacchi/Jurabek Karimov (WFU) def. Emile Hudd/Martim Prata (UT) 6-2
3. Shunsuke Mitsui/Angel Diaz (UT)…
The Vols won the doubles point behind a 6-2 effort from Johannus Monday and Pat Harper over Wake Forest’s 30th-ranked duo of Juan Lopez de Azcona and Filippo Moroni on court one and a clinching 6-3 court-three victory by Shunsuke Mitsui and Angel Diaz over Melios Efstathiou and Matthew Thomson. For Monday and Harper, it marked the duo’s first-ever doubles pairing, while Mitsui and Diaz teamed up for the first time since the 2021 fall season and improve to 6-1 as a duo.
Mitsui and Diaz went up an early break at 2-1 thanks to Mitsui’s powerful down-the-line return and overcame a 0-40 deficit in the ensuing game to remain a break up at 3-1. A doubles-clinching break in the ninth game resulted in the 6-3 scoreline at No. 3 doubles.
Tennessee (4-2) opened up a 2-0 advantage over Wake Forest (5-0) when Tennessee’s #59 Mitsui won a straight-set affair at the No. 2 singles position over Filippo Moroni, 6-4, 6-3. Mitsui, down a break at 1-3 in the opening set, roared back by winning five of the set’s final six games. Mitsui went up a break at 4-2 in the second set before winning the match. Sunday marked Mitsui’s first career appearance at No. 2 singles, capturing his fourth career singles win at the top two lineup spots. Mitsui improves to 28-5 in career dual singles matches and 48-12 overall in singles play.
The Demon Deacons evened the match at 2-2 with wins on courts five and one. Tennessee’s Diaz took down Lopez de Azcona of Wake Forest in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles to give UT a 3-2 lead. Wake Forest garnered wins at No. 4 and 3 singles with a three-set win and a second-set tiebreak victory, respectively, to clinch the tight match.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to Knoxville to compete in the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend, serving as a host of the event. Play for the Vols begins with Louisiana on Friday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. ET in Goodfriend Tennis Center and continues Saturday, Jan. 28 against either Oklahoma or Charlotte. The winner of the event qualifies for the ITA Indoor National Championship, slated for Feb. 17-20 in Chicago, Ill.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Johannus Monday/Pat Harper (UT) def. #30 Juan Lopez de Azcona/Filippo Moroni (WFU) 6-2
2. Luciano Tacchi/Jurabek Karimov (WFU) def. Emile Hudd/Martim Prata (UT) 6-2
3. Shunsuke Mitsui/Angel Diaz (UT)…
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