Men’s Tennis: No. 5 Hoos fall, 4-1, against top-ranked Demon Deacons

Photo: UVA Athletics

The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team suffered a 4-1 defeat to No. 1 Wake Forest on Sunday at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.

The Cavaliers (9-5, 1-3 ACC) dropped their second straight match, falling to 1-3 in the ACC. Freshman Rafael Jódar recorded the lone point for Virginia.

The top-ranked Demon Deacons (21-0, 4-0 ACC) opened the match with a 6-3 doubles victory on the top court. Junior Ty Switzer and freshman Jangjun Kim responded with a 6-3 win on doubles court three. Jódar and grad student James Hopper saved three match points on doubles court two but fell short in a back-and-forth tiebreak to No. 6 Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow.

Wake Forest extended its lead to 2-0 with a straight set win on court four.

On the top court, Jódar cut into the deficit, getting Virginia on the board with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 5 DK Suresh Ekambaram.

The Demon Deacons followed with two more straight set wins on courts five and six to clinch the victory.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The Cavaliers dropped back-to-back ACC regular season matches for the first time since 2018
• Sunday’s match was Virginia’s second contest of the season playing the No. 1 team in the ITA Team Rankings. The Cavaliers defeated then-No. 1 Texas at home on February 2
• Rafael Jódar won his eleventh straight match, improving to 11-1 on the season
• Jódar picked up his second victory of the season over a top 5 player in the ITA Singles Rankings
• Freshman Keegan Rice was unavailable for the Cavaliers

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers are back on the road next weekend, taking on Boston College on Friday at 3 p.m. and SMU on Sunday at noon.

WAKE FOREST 4, VIRGINIA 1

Singles
1. #18 Rafael Jódar (VA) def. #5 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WF) 6-2, 6-4
2. #22 Dylan Dietrich (VA) vs. #65 Ioannis Xilas (WF) 6-3, 3-6, unfinished
3. James Hopper (VA) vs. Charlie Robertson (WF) 7-6 (7-5), 2-2, unfinished
4. Luciano Tacchi (WF) def. Jangjun Kim (VA) 6-1, 6-0
5. Luca Pow (WF) def. Mans Dahlberg (VA) 6-0, 7-5
6. Franco Capalbo (WF) def. Stiles Brockett (VA) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. #50 DK Suresh Ekambaram/Charlie Robertson (WF) def. #67 Dylan Dietrich/Mans Dahlberg (VA) 6-3
2. #6 Luciano Tacchi/Luca Pow (WF) def. Rafael Jódar/James Hopper (VA) 7-6 (10-8)
3. Ty Switzer/Jangjun Kim (VA) def. Ioannis Xilas/Franco Capalbo (WF) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,1,6,5)