WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following a pair of victories to open the 2024 campaign, the 15th-ranked Wake Forest men’s tennis team will travel to face No. 6 Tennessee Sunday at the Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
 
First serve is slated for 1 p.m., and the match can be streamed here.
 
Match Schedule

• Sunday, Jan. 21
  • 1 p.m. – No. 15 Wake Forest at No. 6 Tennessee
     

How To Follow
The live stream for all matches will be provided via Playsight, while the live results can be found here.
 
Last Time Out
Behind a perfect 5-0 record in doubles play, Wake Forest earned a pair of victories over defending SoCon Champion East Tennessee State and 2023 CAA runner-up Elon Monday inside the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center.
 
With both victories, the Demon Deacons improved to a stellar 47-4 at home over the past three seasons, while remaining unbeaten against both the Buccaneers (13-0) and the Phoenix (9-0) all-time. Additionally, the win over Elon improved the Deacs to an impressive 18-4 against schools in the state of North Carolina since the start of the 2022 campaign.
 
Wake Forest’s season-opening win over East Tennessee State marked the 300th of head coach Tony Bresky‘s career. Of note, Bresky passed Jim Leighton as the winningest coach in program history a season ago.
 
Monday, the Demon Deacons went a perfect 5-0 in doubles play, securing the doubles point in both matches. The Deacs’ momentum from doubles carried over into singles play as they went a combined 9-3 en route to both victories.
 
In total, five Deacs made their Wake Forest debut Monday, including transfers No. 54 DK Suresh Ekambaram and No. 78 Franco Capalbo.
 
With both wins, the Demon Deacons have now started 2-0 in 21 of each of the past 24 seasons.
 
ITA Preseason Rankings
In the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Rankings, Wake Forest was ranked 15th nationally. Of note, the Demon Deacons have three singles players and one doubles pair ranked.
 
Singles

 
Doubles

 
Roster Outlook
The Deacs are returning seven players from a season ago, including three players (No. 7 Filippo Moroni, Luciano Tacchi and Matthew Thomson) that appeared in 25 or more matches. Additionally, the Deacs welcome nine newcomers to the squad, including No. 54 DK Suresh Ekambaram and No. 78 Franco Capalbo.
 
The Matchup – No. 6 Tennessee
No. 6 Tennessee is off to a 4-0 start to the 2024 campaign and coming off a 4-3 victory over No. 14 Michigan Thursday. The Volunteers opened the season with three-consecutive 7-0 wins over Furman, Penn and Tennessee Tech.
 
Ranked Volunteers

• Singles
  • No. 20 – Johannus Monday
  • No. 33 – Shunsuke Mitsui
• Doubles
  • No. 26 – Johannus Monday/Angel Diaz
  • No. 34 – Filip Pieczonka/Shunsuke Mitsui

Sunday will mark the 21st all-time meeting between the Demon Deacons and the Volunteers as the Deacs currently own a 6-14 ledger against Tennessee. Of note, the two teams split the season series a year ago.
 
Next Up
After facing the Volunteers, the Demon Deacons will travel to Chapel Hill for ITA Kickoff Weekend (Jan. 27-28). The North Carolina Regional will feature No. 23 Florida, Illinois and host No. 13 North Carolina.
 
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