Wake Forest Men's Tennis Splits Pair of Matches in California
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's tennis team (26-3, 11-1 ACC) went to the West Coast hoping to stay in the driver's seat in the ACC Title race. They may have stumbled a little bit on Friday night, but were able to regain their momentum on Sunday to stay in front of the race.
Let's go through the highlights so you can see how it all went down out on the West Coast.
Heartbreak at Stanford
The Deacs started their road trip in Palo Alto against a top-25 Stanford team that was opening its brand new tennis center. This brought out a huge crowd and gave the Cardinal a great home atmosphere.
Early on, both teams tightly contested the dual, but the Deacs rose to the challenge. The fourth-ranked doubles pair of DK Suresh Ekambaram and Andrew Delgado came through, winning 7-5 on court one. After an unfortunate defeat on court three, the court two pair of Mees Rottgering and Kacper Szymkowiak came up clutch in a tiebreaker to secure the doubles point.
Singles play began just as tightly contested as doubles. Wake picked up first set wins on courts one and five, while Stanford countered with leads on courts four and six. Junior Luca Pow won his first set narrowly before winning 6-0 in the second on court three to put the Deacs on the board in singles.
Senior DK Suresh came through on court one to give the Deacs a 3-0 edge, and Wake Forest was on the brink of victory. This is where things went downhill. Stanford picked up a straight-set victory on court two to start a charge. Courts four, five, and six all went to third sets, and the Cardinal picked up all of them to clinch a 4-3 victory. This was the Deacs' first loss in conference play in two years.
One more ☝️ https://t.co/l97VLdSiqU pic.twitter.com/j0tjpllsEC
— Wake Forest Men's Tennis (@WakeMTennis) April 4, 2026
Bounce-Back at Cal
On Sunday, the response is way more important than the actual disappointment, and the Deacs responded appropriately in this one. Wake controlled the doubles point pretty much from the start. 6-3 wins from the duos of Andrew Delgado and DK Suresh, along with Luca Pow and Aryan Shah, gave the Deacs the doubles point.
Joaquin Guilleme and Dominick Mosejczuk got off to a fast start and took their first sets on courts five and six, respectively, and the Deacs continued to ride that momentum throughout singles play. They both locked down victories, Guilleme 6-2, 6-2, and Mosejczuk 6-3, 6-1. Wake proceeded to drop courts one and four, before Mees Rottgering delivered the winning point on court two by the score of 7-6 (1), 6-3. This was a great victory to send the Deacs home with.
Best freshman in the country is at it again 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/xHavlAOKZB
— Wake Forest Men's Tennis (@WakeMTennis) April 6, 2026
ACC Standings Check
After a 1-1 weekend in California, the Deacs are now tied with Virginia at 11-1 atop the ACC standings. Wake still holds the tiebreaker advantage over the Cavaliers thanks to beating them in Winston-Salem earlier in the season. A win this weekend would secure at least a share of the ACC title for the second straight year. NC State, Notre Dame, and Stanford are all tied at 8-4 behind the two top teams.
What's Next?
The Deacs have one more match to play in the regular season, and it is this weekend in Winston-Salem. On Saturday, April 11th, the Deacs will host NC State in a Big Four rivalry match that is critical to clinching the ACC crown. The match will start at 5 pm and will be Senior Day. Fans should come out to celebrate senior DK Suresh and cheer on the Deacs as they look to win the ACC.
Justin is a student at Wake Forest University. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and aspiring finance major interested everything sports. In his freshman year, Justin completed an internship with the Wake Forest Ticketing Department where he gained some valuable insight into the sales and operations aspects of collegiate athletics. Before working with Wake Forest On SI, Justin was a contributing writer for Wake Forest’s student publication The Old Gold and Black. Currently, Justin serves as a student manager on the Wake Forest Men’s Tennis team. In his free time Justin enjoys spending time with his family and friends on the golf course and traveling.