{"id":671717,"date":"2026-05-15T02:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/671717\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T02:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T02:55:13","slug":"top-seeded-demon-deacons-advance-to-national-semifinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/671717\/","title":{"rendered":"Top-Seeded Demon Deacons Advance to National Semifinals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ATHENS, Ga. &#8211; The top-seeded Wake Forest men&#8217;s tennis team continued its postseason run on Thursday afternoon, defeating No. 8-seeded Arizona, 4-1, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia to advance to the NCAA Semifinals for the third-consecutive season.<\/p>\n<p>With the victory, the Demon Deacons (34-3) move into the national semifinals for the fifth time in program history, all coming since 2018, continuing one of the premier stretches in collegiate tennis. Wake Forest also extended its NCAA Tournament winning streak to 10 matches.<\/p>\n<p>The win marked another milestone for head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/coaches\/tony-bresky\/1123\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"1123\" target=\"_blank\">Tony Bresky<\/a>&#8216;s program, as Wake Forest became just the second team to reach five NCAA semifinal appearances since 2018, joining Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Demon Deacons will now face either No. 4-seeded Virginia or No. 5-seeded Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. with a spot in the national championship match on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Returning to the final site of the NCAA tournament for the third-consecutive season, Wake Forest once again leaned on its depth and postseason experience against an Arizona squad making the first quarterfinal appearance in program history. The Demon Deacons improved to 2-1 all-time against the Wildcats with the previous win coming in the 2024 ITA National Indoor tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Wake Forest now holds a 5-1 record in NCAA quarterfinal matches all-time and will take a 3-1 record in semifinals into Saturday&#8217;s match.<\/p>\n<p>Deacs in the NCAA Tournament&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tNCAA Championships (2)&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tNCAA Finalists (3)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSemifinal Appearances (5)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t2018, 2019, 2024, 2025, 2026&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tQuarterfinal Appearances (6)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, 2025, 2026&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tRound of 16 Appearances (11)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t2007, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSecond Round Appearances (19)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tTournament Appearances (25)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\nWake Forest also continued its dominant stretch in doubles play, claiming the opening point for the 26th-consecutive match and for the 34th time this season with wins on courts one and two.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/mees-rottgering\/9181\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"9181\" target=\"_blank\">Mees Rottgering<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/kacper-szymkowiak\/8964\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8964\" target=\"_blank\">Kacper Szymkowiak<\/a> continued their unbeaten season together with a win over No. 43 Friend\/Rozin, 6-0, on court two. The pair improved to 15-0 overall and secured their first ranked victory as a tandem. Recently named Third Team All-ACC Doubles, the duo also recorded their third win of the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The nation&#8217;s top-ranked doubles team of <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/andrew-delgado\/8955\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8955\" target=\"_blank\">Andrew Delgado<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/dk-suresh-ekambaram\/8961\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8961\" target=\"_blank\">DK Suresh Ekambaram<\/a> earned another statement win, defeating No. 20 Gustafsson\/Sekachov, 6-2, on court one. The duo improved to 14-0 together while recording their sixth ranked win and fifth victory over a top-25 opponent this season. The victory also moved Suresh to 99 career doubles wins, while Delgado remained unbeaten across both singles and doubles this spring.<\/p>\n<p>Career Doubles Wins &#8211; Wake Forest History&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tRank&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tName&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tYears&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tWins&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t1.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tSkander Mansouri&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2014-18&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t117&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tT2.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tCory Parr&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2005-09&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t108&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tT2.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tChristian Seraphim&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2014-18&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t108&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t4.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tDK Suresh&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2023-Pres.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t99&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t5.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tSteven Forman&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2007-10&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t94&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t6.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/luca-pow\/8958\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8958\" target=\"_blank\">Luca Pow<\/a>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2023-Pres.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t93&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tT7.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tTrent Brendon&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2000-03&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t92&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tT7.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tDavid Hopkins&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2008-13&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t92&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tT9.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tRaul Munoz&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t1998-2001&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t88&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tT9.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tBrent Ross&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t1992-96&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t88&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tT9.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tPetros Chrysochos&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2016-19&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t88&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t12.&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\tTodd Paul&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t2003-07&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t84&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Wake Forest carried that momentum into singles play, where the Demon Deacons relied on their depth across the lineup to pull away from Arizona and punch their ticket back to the national semifinals with wins on courts two, five and six.<\/p>\n<p>Rottgering, the No. 38-ranked singles player in the country, continued his sensational freshman season with a win over No. 74 Filip Gustafsson, 6-2, 6-1, on court two. The ACC Freshman of the Year improved to 17-3 overall and a stellar 7-1 record against ranked opponents while extending his winning streak to six matches, five of which have come during postseason play. He has remained nearly untouchable down the stretch, suffering just one loss since Feb. 15.<\/p>\n<p>No. 125 <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/aryan-shah\/9182\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"9182\" target=\"_blank\">Aryan Shah<\/a> continued his postseason surge with a win over Glib Sekachov, 6-4, 6-2, on court five. The freshman improved to 11 collegiate victories while extending his winning streak to five matches, including four during postseason competition. Shah has now gone 3-0 in NCAA Tournament matches after previously earning wins against Navy and UCF.<\/p>\n<p>Despite dropping the first set 6-0, sophomore <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/joaquin-guilleme\/8956\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8956\" target=\"_blank\">Joaquin Guilleme<\/a> battled back and earned the clinching win over Alejandro Arcila, (0-6, 7-5, 6-2) on court six. The Nicaraguan secured his team-leading 25th singles victory of the spring while recording his third win of the NCAA Tournament. This also marked his second match-clincher of the tournament following his round two victory over Old Dominion.<\/p>\n<p>Full Schedule\/Results (All Times Eastern)&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tThursday &#8211; Quarterfinals (May 14)&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t(2) Texas def. (10) Baylor, 4-1&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t(6) TCU def. (3) Ohio State, 4-3&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t(1) Wake Forest def. (8) Arizona, 4-1&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t7 p.m. &#8211; (4) Virginia vs. (5) Mississippi State&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSaturday &#8211; Semifinals (May 16)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t10 a.m. &#8211; (2) Texas vs. (6) TCU&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t1 p.m. &#8211; (1) Wake Forest vs. (4) Virginia\/(5) Mississippi State&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSunday &#8211; Championship (May 17)&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\nWake Forest&#8217;s Path So Far\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tFirst Round &#8211; May 1&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t(1) Wake Forest def. Navy, 4-0&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tSecond Round &#8211; May 2&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t(1) Wake Forest def. Old Dominion, 4-0&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tRound of 16 &#8211; May 8&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t(1) Wake Forest def. (16) UCF, 4-1&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\tQuarterfinals &#8211; May 14&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t(1) Wake Forest def. (8) Arizona, 4-1&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\nHow It Happened<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tWake Forest immediately seized momentum in doubles play, racing out to 4-0 leads on courts one and two while court three remained tied at 3-3.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tRottgering and Szymkowiak were first to finish, cruising to a dominant 6-0 victory on court two.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tShortly after, Delgado and Suresh Ekambaram secured the doubles point with a 6-2 win on court one.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tIn singles action, Rottgering quickly built a 4-1 advantage on court two, while Robertson jumped out to a 3-0 lead on court four.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tGuilleme dropped his first set, 0-6, while Rottgering countered with the first set on court two by a 6-2 margin.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tPow also dropped his opening set on court three, but Robertson, Suresh and Shah each claimed their respective first sets.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tRottgering was first off the courts in singles, earning a straight-set victory on court two to extend Wake Forest&#8217;s lead.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tAfter losing the opening set, Guilleme responded by forcing a decisive third set on court six.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tShah then added another point for the Demon Deacons with a straight-set win on court five.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tArizona answered with a win on court three, as Pow fell in straight sets.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tOn court four, Robertson was pushed into a third set after splitting the opening two frames.\u00a0&#13;<br \/>\n\tGuilleme completed the comeback on court six with a three-set victory to clinch Wake Forest&#8217;s semifinal berth.&#13;<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\nSingles Results<br \/>\n1. #27 DK Suresh (WFU) vs. #4 Jay Friend (ARIZ) 7-6(3), 6(2)-7, 3-5, unfinished<br \/>\n2. #38 <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/mees-rottgering\/9181\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"9181\" target=\"_blank\">Mees Rottgering<\/a> (WFU) def. #74 Filip Gustafsson (ARIZ) 6-2, 6-1<br \/>\n3. #98 Alexander Rozin (ARIZ) def. #28 <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/luca-pow\/8958\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8958\" target=\"_blank\">Luca Pow<\/a> (WFU) 6-3, 7-5<br \/>\n4. <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/charlie-robertson\/8960\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8960\" target=\"_blank\">Charlie Robertson<\/a> (WFU) vs. #105 Zoran Ludoski (ARIZ) 6-3, 6(2)-7, unfinished<br \/>\n5. #125 <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/aryan-shah\/9182\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"9182\" target=\"_blank\">Aryan Shah<\/a> (WFU) def. Glib Sekachov (ARIZ) 6-4, 6-2<br \/>\n6. <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/joaquin-guilleme\/8956\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"8956\" target=\"_blank\">Joaquin Guilleme<\/a> (WFU) def. Alejandro Arcila (ARIZ) 0-6, 7-5, 6-2<br \/>\nOrder of finish: 2, 5, 3, 6<\/p>\n<p>Doubles Results<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n1. #1 Delgado\/Suresh (WFU) def. #20 Gustafsson\/Sekachov (ARIZ) 6-2<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n2. Rottgering\/Szymkowiak (WFU) def. #43 Friend\/Rozin (ARIZ) 6-0<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n3. Pow\/Shah (WFU) vs. #57 Stelse\/Arcila (ARIZ) 3-4, unfinished<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nOrder of finish: 2, 1<\/p>\n<p>From Coach Bresky<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n&#8220;Arizona is a really tough team, and I thought our guys showed a lot of composure today. We came out with great energy in doubles, which has been such a strength for us all season, and then we had different guys step up across the lineup in singles. Mees was outstanding again, Aryan has continued to play with a ton of confidence recently and Joaquin showed tremendous fight after a tough first set. To be back in the national semifinals says a lot about this group&#8217;s consistency, competitiveness and belief in one another. We&#8217;re excited for the opportunity ahead.&#8221; \u2013 Head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/sports\/mens-tennis\/roster\/coaches\/tony-bresky\/1123\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"1123\" target=\"_blank\">Tony Bresky<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow the Deacs<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/godeacs.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GoDeacs.com<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WakeMTennis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a> |<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wfmenstennis\/?hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Instagram<\/a> |<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wake.menstennis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Facebook<\/a><br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATHENS, Ga. &#8211; The top-seeded Wake Forest men&#8217;s tennis team continued its postseason run on Thursday afternoon, defeating&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-671717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}