FLUSHING, NY.– No. 14 Arizona suffered their second loss of the season to No. 6 Wake Forest. Wake Forest led the Wildcats 4-2 in the ITA National Indoor Championship quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 17.
The Cats dropped the doubles point after an early lead as No.53 senior/freshman duo, Gustaf Strom and Alexander Rozin, took down Luca Pow and Lucian Tacchi 6-1.The next two matches that secured the doubles point for Wake Forest both ended in the need of a tie-breaker score. Herman Hoeyeraal and Eric Padgham put up a good fight but fell to Filippo Moroni and Matthew Thomson 7-6(5). The 7-6(9) loss was given to No.6 Colton Smith and Jay Friend by No.7 Holden Koons and Shakshineswar to put Wake Forest in the lead 1-0.
Singles competition was stacked with seven players between both teams ranked in the ITA Top 125 singles players – four Wildcats and three Longhorns.
In the fourth position for Arizona Hoeyeraal put the Wildcats on the board tying the score 1-1 after straight-set victory 6-3, 6-2. Following closely behind, Wake Forest regained their lead after Holden Koons secured a 6-2, 6-2, win against Iñaki Cabrera-Bello. Matthew Thomson extended the lead 3-1 as he led Strom 6-3, 6-1. Smith put up a great fight for the Cats, adding to the score, dominating No.23 Filippo 6-1, 7-6(5). Trying to gain another point, Casper Christensen took his first set into a tie-breaker, but fell to Luca Pow 7-6(4), then falling short in the second set 6-3.
Friend’s match was abandoned going into the third set before Wake Forest clinched the match and secured their spot in the semi-finals. Arizona is set to play in a consolation match against No.10 Texas A&M Sunday, Feb. 18 at 4:30 PM (MST).
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