WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite a resilient effort, the ninth-ranked Wake Forest men’s tennis team dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 1 Ohio State Thursday evening inside the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center.
The loss marked the Demon Deacons’ first of the 2023 campaign and snapped the Deacs’ 36-match home winning streak, which dated back to last season.
After securing the doubles point behind wins in first and second doubles, Wake Forest jumped out to a 2-0 lead as graduate student Jurabek Karimov notched an impressive 6-1, 6-1 victory in third singles over No. 41 Alexander Bernard.
Ohio State then responded with four hard-fought victories in sixth, fourth, fifth and second singles to go up 4-2, securing the victory.
With the match already decided, the two sides chose to play out the remainder of the contest as first singles was left unpronounced. Senior Melios Efstathiou went on to earn a thrilling 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 9 JJ Tracy.
The Demon Deacons will return to action Sunday when they host a double-header against No. 8 South Carolina and Queens at 1 and 5 p.m., respectively, inside the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center.
How It Happened
- Matthew Thomson/Melios Efstathiou jumped out to a 4-1 lead in third doubles as Courts 1 and 2 remained tightly contested early on.
- Juan Lopez de Azcona/Filippo Moroni earned a hard-fought, 6-4 victory on Court 1 to bring the Deacs’ one win away from securing the doubles point.
- Jurabek Karimov/Luciano Tacchi closed out doubles play with a 6-4 decision on Court 2 and gave Wake Forest a 1-0 advantage heading into…
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