As Wake Forest men’s tennis graduate student Jurabek Karimov came roaring back in the second set to clinch a come-from-behind victory for the Demon Deacons over No. 6 Tennessee in late January, the celebration was justified, yet brief.
The Deacs still had other business to attend to, with the second half of a doubleheader starting just a couple of brief hours later.
Shortly after, head coach Tony Bresky was notified that the victory over the Vols catapulted him into the winningest coach in Wake Forest Men’s Tennis history.
“At the time, it was just exciting that we came back and were able to play a great match,” Bresky said. “Then we had another match later in the day. Playing two in one day makes for a crazy long day, so you get home exhausted.”
Several weeks later, though, still in the middle of a season full of promise, Bresky hasn’t really reflected much on his achievement.
“In retrospect, first of all you feel old, because it means I’ve been here awhile,” he said. “Then you’re thankful for all the players, coaches and staff who I’ve had a chance to work with. I’m proud of the program we’ve been able to build in the right way with great kids and a great support staff. I’m just thankful to all the people who have helped along the way.”
The Deacs fell behind 1-0 to the Vols after losing the doubles point, and then faced a 3-2 deficit before closing out victories by Luciano Tacchi and Karimov at No. 4 and No. 3 singles respectively.
“We lost a tough doubles point,” Bresky said. “Dubs is a big point, but it’s just one point and some teams put too much emphasis on it. You have to be able to win matches when you lose that point. Our guys were prepared and played some really good singles. We had some great performances and played well to come out on top.”
The Deacs started the season on quite a roll, winning their first 10 matches and earning a bid to the ITA Nationals in Chicago.
“I think the guys came back motivated, fit and ready to go,” Bresky said. “We have some older guys who have been very much looking forward to their opportunity to play in the lineup. We have some guys who haven’t had a chance to play much in the last couple of years because we’ve had a ton of depth. Those guys are doing a great job. We pulled out a tight one with Tennessee. That spurred us on to another great weekend and we’ve qualified to national…
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