Demon Deacons Primed for ITA All-American Championships

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Coming off a stellar start to the 2022 fall campaign, the Wake Forest men’s tennis team will head to Tulsa, Okla., next week for the week-long Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships.
 
This year’s event will be held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa and Case Tennis Center at LaFortune Park.
 
Pre-qualifying action is set for Saturday, while qualifying play will run from Oct. 3-4, and main draw play from Oct. 5-9.
 
Last Time Out
Fillipo Moroni, Luciano Tacchi and Melios Efstathiou all competed individually for the Demon Deacons at the International Tennis Federation (ITF) M15 Invite in Fayetteville, Ark., last week.
 
Efstathiou, a product of Limassol, Cyprus, had a stellar outing as he reached the semifinals, before falling to No. 557-ranked Blu Baker (4-6, 4-6) to end his tournament run.
 
Moroni also had a solid performance as he advanced to the second round of the tournament, defeating Cash Hanslik (7-6 (7), 6-1) in the opening round of action, before falling in the second round. Of note, Moroni pulled off a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round of the qualifying draw to reach the main draw.
 
Tacchi drew No. 515-ranked Jack Pinnington in the opening round of action and fell 2-6, 6-7 (4).
 
ITA Preseason Rankings

• The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) unveiled its 2022-23 Division I Men’s Top 125 Preseason National Singles rankings and three Demon Deacons (Filippo Moroni, Jurabek Karimov and Melios Efstathiou) earned recognition.

  • Moroni was ranked No. 22, while Karimov and Efstathiou were ranked No. 64 and No. 80, respectively.

 
Up Next
After competing in the ITA All-American Championships, Wake Forest will compete in the ITA Carolina Regionals Oct. 21-25 in Durham.