Wake Forest Tennis Rolls Past No. 8 Arizona, Looks Ahead to a Rematch

The top-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's tennis team is continuing in its quest for back-to-back national championships. On Thursday night, the Deacs defeated the Arizona Wildcats in their quarterfinal matchup and now look ahead to a rematch against ACC rival Virginia Cavaliers in the national semifinals. It will be the third time these two teams have met this season.

This marks the third consecutive national semifinal appearance for the Demon Deacons and the fifth in program history. With the win on Thursday, the Deacs now hold a 5-1 record in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. Looking ahead to the semis, they are 3-1 all-time and will look to make it 4-1. Let's go through some of the highlights from the victory over Arizona, and look ahead to the semifinal matchup.

His 25th singles win of the spring 💪 pic.twitter.com/EzwJytyEnN
— Wake Forest Men's Tennis (@WakeMTennis) May 14, 2026

Winning Over the Wildcats

As we have said so many times this season, the attack starts with gaining the momentum in doubles. The Deacs did that yet again as they took their 26th consecutive opening point in doubles to get out to the early advantage. They raced out to 4-0 leads on courts one and two. Mees Rottgering and Kacper Szymkowiak finished first with a dominant 6-0 victory on court two. Then DK Suresh Ekambaram and Andrew Delgado clinched the point on court one with a 6-2 victory.

This momentum from doubles carried into singles play as Rottgering and Charlie Robertson both jumped out to early advantages. However, things did get tight as Arizona countered by taking the first sets on courts six and three.

The Deacs remained composed and continued to battle. Rottgering made it a 2-0 advantage by winning on court two by a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 margin. Aryan Shah continued his lights-out play in the NCAA Tournament as he claimed a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court five. Arizona countered with a straight-set victory on court three, but it was not enough as Joaquin Guilleme clinched the match on court six. After losing the first set 0-6, he battled back to win 7-5, 6-2 in the second and third to take the match.

Looking Ahead: Third Meeting with Virginia

Dos más ✌️ pic.twitter.com/0U7tDuVF8b
— Wake Forest Men's Tennis (@WakeMTennis) May 15, 2026

The next test for the Deacs will be a familiar foe. The Virginia Cavaliers came to Winston-Salem earlier in the season, and then the two teams met again in the ACC Championship. Both meetings saw Wake come out on top. They look to make it 3-for-3 on Saturday.

Both times they have played previously, Wake has won by a 4-2 margin. The doubles point has gone to the Deacs in both previous matchups without much struggle. Winning doubles again is a huge key to victory and crucial to carrying momentum into singles.

Virginia won both matchups with ACC Player of the Year Dylan Dietrich playing on court one in singles play. However, the Deacs have also had success with Luca Pow at the three spot, winning both his singles matches against UVA.

As with a lot of competitive matches, this one will likely come down to who can generate more success on the back half of the singles courts. Matches on courts four, five, and six will all be very competitive, and if the Deacs can take two out of three of these, they have to think they will be in a good spot, especially in combination with the doubles point.

The semifinal dual is Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, once again at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. If the Deacs beat Virginia, they will advance to Sunday's national championship at 1 p.m. against either TCU or Texas. The Deacs beat both of those teams earlier in the season.

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