WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After dropping a hard-fought 5-2 decision to No. 8 South Carolina, the ninth-ranked Wake Forest men’s tennis team bounced back to sweep in-state foe Queens, 4-0, Sunday inside the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center.
With the victory over Queens, Wake Forest (11-2, 0-0 ACC) improved to 2-0 over the Royals this season and 15-0 over in-state opponents since the beginning of the 2022 campaign. Sunday’s loss to the eighth-ranked Gamecocks marked only the sixth home loss for the Demon Deacons since the start of the 2016-17 season.
Against No. 8 South Carolina (8-0, 0-0 SEC), Wake Forest quickly fell behind as the Gamecocks took the doubles point behind victories in first and second doubles. South Carolina then picked up consecutive victories in sixth and fourth singles to take a 3-0 lead, before clinching the match with a 7-5, 6-4 win in second singles.
Despite South Carolina securing the victory, the two sides decided to play out the remainder of the contest. The Demon Deacons went on to earn wins in fifth and third singles as Matthew Thomson defeated Casey Hoole 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and Luciano Tacchi defeated No. 67 Raphael Lambling 7-5, 7-5, leaving only first singles undecided.
No. 11 Toby Samuel knocked off Melios Efstathiou (6-3, 6-7 [7-9], 6-1) in a tight battle to end the contest between the Demon Deacons and the Gamecocks.
After an hour break, the Deacs returned to action to face Queens (0-7, 0-0 ASUN) for the second time this season. Wake Forest jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as it clinched the doubles point against the Royals behind victories in…
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