Men's Tennis Edged By Top-Ranked Wake Forest, 4-3

Men's Tennis Edged By Top-Ranked Wake Forest, 4-3

CORAL GABLES, Fla. The University of Miami men’s tennis team was on the verge of knocking down top-ranked Wake Forest Friday evening, but instead suffered its first home defeat of the season in an agonizing fashion, 4-3.

Ten out of 16 sets in either doubles or singles play were decided by two games or fewer and all three of the Hurricanes’ (8-7, 0-4 ACC) points were clinched after a tiebreaker, but the Demon Deacons (14-0, 3-0 ACC) took the only three-set contest to retain their perfect start to the season.

The Canes became just the third team this season to score three points against Wake Forest, but at the same time fell to 0-4 in contests that came down to the last point. Three of those minimal losses have come in Atlantic Coast Conference action.
Miami struck first on the day, grabbing its first doubles point in ACC play, which was decided by tiebreakers on two courts. Freshmen Pablo Aycart and Tatsuki Shimamoto were the only pair that won convincingly, defeating Julian Zlobinsky and Ian Dempster, 6-3, in their debut as a pair.

The Canes’ 50th-ranked tandem of senior Christian Langmo and freshman Adria Soriano was locked into a tie with Petros Chrysochos and Bar Botzer after 12 games, taking them to a tiebreaker which the latter duo won by minimal margins, 7-5.

Shortly thereafter, however, at No. 2 freshman Bojan Jankulovski and redshirt sophomore Dane Dunlap dominated a tiebreaker of their own, 7-1 against Skander Mansouri and Alan Gadjiev, to clinch the opening point for Miami.

Soriano and Jankulovski were also involved in tiebreaker drama in singles play. First, the Skopje, Macedonia, native came away as a winner in a second-set tiebreaker to close out Zlobinsky, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

Minutes later, Soriano did the same in even more dramatic of a fashion to tie the match at 3-3 with a 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) win over No. 30 Mansouri. The victory was over the highest-ranked opposition for the freshman, who improved to 2-1 against ranked players in singles, with all three opponents ranked in the top 50.

For the second straight match, it was down to Dunlap, who made his season debut at the No. 3 position, to decide the match. Dunlap won the second set, 6-4, to take the contest into a third set, but Botzer grabbed a decisive break late on to win, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, and make Wake Forest the first team to leave Coral Gables with a victory in 2018.

No. 7 Chrysochos won the first point for Wake Forest by prevailing over No. 90 Langmo in the ranked singles matchup on main court, 6-2, 6-3.

Rrezat Cungu then gave the Deacs their first lead of the day on the other end of the lineup – 7-5, 6-2 against Shimamoto – before Gadjiev had the most dominating tiebreaker display in the match to down senior Niclas Genovese, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1.

Miami continues a four-match homestand Sunday, when the Hurricanes take on No. 23 NC State at noon.

For all of the latest news around Miami’s men’s tennis team, follow @CanesMensTennis on FacebookTwitter and Instagram,or go to HurricaneSports.com.

RESULTS

Doubles Competition
1. Petros Chrysochos/Bar Botzer (WF) def. No. 50 Christian Langmo/Adria Soriano (UM), 7-6 (7-5)
2. Bojan Jankulovski/Dane Dunlap (UM) def. Skander Mansouri/Alan Gadjiev (WF), 7-6 (7-3)
3. Pablo Aycat/Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM) def. Julian Zlobinsky/Ian Dempster (WF), 6-3

Singles Competition
1. No. 7 Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. No. 90 Christian Langmo (UM), 6-2, 6-3
2. Adria Soriano (UM) def. No. 30 Skander Mansouri (WF), 6-4, 7-6 (13-11)
3. Bar Botzer (WF) def. Dane Dunlap (UM), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
4. Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Julian Zlobinsky (WF), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Alan Gadjiev (WF) def. Niclas Genovese (UM), 7-6 (7-1), 6-1
6. Rrezart Cungu (WF) def. Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 7-5, 6-2