Cats Battle No. 1 Wake Forest, Fall Short in NCAA Second Round
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.– Despite claiming the doubles point and withstanding multiple momentum surges from homestanding—and No. 1 overall seed—Wake Forest (36-1, 13-0 ACC), Kentucky (17-12, 7-7 SEC) was unable to upset the Demon Deacons, falling 4-1.
The Wildcats became just the third team this season to take down Wake Forest in doubles, as Charlelie Cosnet and Martin Breysach delivered in a deciding tiebreak to give the Cats the advantage. The French duo battled back from an early break to keep the match on serve until the breaker, fighting off multiple break points and deuce points against Luciano Tacchi and Ioannis Xilas. Ultimately, the No. 3 pairing from Kentucky opened up a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak, sealing the deal on their fourth match point, 7-6 (5).
On the other courts, No. 12 Jack Loutit and Eli Stephenson earned their sixth ranked win of the season, taking down No. 22 Suresh/Pow at the No. 1 court. The Wildcat pairing earned an early break at 3-1 and calmy held the advantage throughout the duration of the set, saving break points on deuce in two different games.
Wake Forest claimed the victory at No. 2, with No. 26 Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson defeated Antoine Ghibaudo and Jaden Weekes, 6-3.
In singles, the Cats were able to carry the momentum from the opening session, placing pressure on the home team with early breaks on four of the six courts. Ultimately, tiebreakers would prove critical in turning the tide in favor of the Demon Deacons, with three first sets going the way of Wake Forest in a ten minute span, all via the breaker.
The top-seeded Deacons evened the match at court No. 6, as Luca Pow recovered from a 2-1 deficit to rattle off 11 of the next 13 games and defeat Matt Rankin.
No. 58 Loutit battled against No. 9 Suresh on court No. 2, trading service holds through 10 games before breaking at love to edge ahead 6-5. However, a deciding point went Suresh’s way in Loutit’s subsequent service game and the Wake Forest star was able to edge ahead in a tight breaker before running away with the match in set two, 7-6 (7), 6-1.
Cosnet also saw an early advantage slip away, with the junior captain serving for the opening frame at 5-3 before falling in a tiebreak. In the second, the Frenchman opened up another break lead, but ultimately fell down the stretch, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Despite trailing 3-1, the Cats tried to flip the momentum multiple times, with No. 78 Weekes pushing his match into a third set, No. 53 Ghibaudo opening a set and break lead, and Stephenson taking his match into two tiebreakers in as many sets.
However, the home crowd was able to push Wake Forest through, with Weekes falling to No. 123 Xilas, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. The junior from Montreal rallied to force the decider and seemed to have the momentum with an early 2-0 lead in the frame, but a pair of deuce points went the way of Wake Forest to shift the tide. Still, Weekes was able to earn a break at 5-3 to extend the match before Xilas ultimately delivered the clinching blow.
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No. 32 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Wake Forest
Doubles Results
- No. 12 Stephenson/Loutit (UK) def. No. 22 Suresh/Pow (WFU) 6-4
- No. 26 Dostanic/Robertson (WFU) def. Ghibaudo/Weekes (UK) 6-3
- Breysach/Cosnet (UK) def. Tacchi/Xilas (WFU) 7-6 (5)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles Results
- No. 53 Antoine Ghibaudo (UK) vs. No. 13 Stefan Dostanic (WFU) 6-2, 6-7(5), 2-4 (unfinished)
- No. 9 DK Suresh (WFU) def. No. 58 Jack Loutit (UK) 7-6 (7), 6-1
- No. 123 Ioannis Xilas (WFU) def. No. 78 Jaden Weekes (UK) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
- Charlie Robertson (WFU) def. Charlelie Cosnet (UK) 7-6 (2), 6-3
- Eli Stephenson (UK) vs. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) 6-7 (4), 6-6 (1-1) (unfinished)
- Luca Pow (WFU) def. Matt Rankin (UK) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 2, 4, 3
