Wake Forest Tennis Season Ends at the Hands of Rival Cavaliers
All good things must come to an end, and this was certainly true with Wake Forest's 2026 men's tennis season. The Deacs were matched up with the rival Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA Tournament semifinals and just could not come out on top.
The painful part of this one was that the Deacs looked like they were poised to reach the NCAA championship for the third straight season. They had the 3-1 advantage and were in the driver's seat before Virginia launched a comeback effort that turned into a success. Let's go through the highlights.
Season-Ending Defeat
The Deacs started this one with another strong performance on the doubles courts. The top-ranked pair of Andrew Delgado and DK Suresh Ekambaram got Wake going with a 6-3 victory on court one. The pair had a 15-0 record together on the season. Mees Rottgering and Kacper Szymokowiak clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory on court two.
In singles play, the Deacs carried over the momentum from doubles. They earned early breaks on five of six courts and won first sets on five courts, putting themselves firmly in the driver's seat. The Cavaliers' number one-ranked singles player, Dylan Dietrich, came back on court one to win in three sets for Virginia. Wake quickly responded with a 6-4, 6-2 victory from Szymokowiak on court six and a 6-4, 6-3 victory from Rottgering on court two. This gave the Deacs a 3-1 advantage, within one point of reaching the championship.
This is where Virginia rattled off three three-set victories to take the win from the grasp of the Deacs. Joaquin Guilleme played on court five and won the first set, but fell in the next two to make the score 3-2. The match came down to Luca Pow and Aryan Shah on courts three and four, and all Wake needed was one. However, the Cavaliers took both of these matches and completed the comeback victory over the Deacs.
Our journey comes to an end in Athens. pic.twitter.com/GsRj7dupsj
— Wake Forest Men's Tennis (@WakeMTennis) May 16, 2026
Season Recap
Despite the disappointment, it was a spectacular season for the Demon Deacons on the court. They went 34-4, won the ACC regular season and tournament title, and made the NCAA semifinals for the fifth time in program history.
They also had 24 ranked victories, including five against top-10 opponents throughout the season. This was also the third year in a row they advanced to the national semifinals.
Despite the pain of defeat, all of Demon Deacon Nation is certainly proud of what this team was able to accomplish. Hopefully, some of the guys will decide to come back next season so we can see them on the court for another year.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
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.