WACO, Texas – Appearing in the national semifinals for the first time since 2003, No. 5 men’s tennis saw its season come to a close in a tight battle with No. 1 Wake Forest, 4-2. The Cardinal ends the campaign at 26-6, marking its most wins since winning the title in 2000.
Taking the court for the 21st time in program history in Final Four, Wake Forest outlasted the Cardinal to take the doubles point. Nico Godsick and Hudson Rivera scored a win on court one, 6-3, over the nation’s 53rd-ranked pair, but the Demon Deacons added wins on courts two and three to claim the early advantage.
Stanford won three first sets, but the Demon Deacons scored wins on courts five and six to take a 3-0 lead. Henry von der Schulenburg responded with a victory on court four, 6-2, 6-3, for his team-leading 23rd of the season and 19th in dual action. Max Basing made it 3-2 on court three, shutting his opponent out in the second set with a 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory. Basing tallied his 20th win of the season and 17th in dual matches.
Kyle Kand and Samir Banerjee each saw their matches go into three sets in the top two positions, but the Demon Deacons picked up the win on court two to advance in the tournament.
[1] No. 1 Wake Forest 4, [4] No. 5 Stanford 2
DOUBLES
1. No. 70 Godsick/Hudson Rivera (STAN) d. No. 53 Suresh/Xilas (WAKE), 6-3
2. No. 26 Dostanic/Robertson (WAKE) d. No. 47 Kang/von der Schulenburg (STAN), 6-3
3. No. 18 Pow/Tacchi (WAKE) d. No. 48 Banerjee/Razeghi (STAN), 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1. No. 13 Stefan Dostanic (WAKE) led No. 7 Samir Banerjee (STAN), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 5-4 uf
2. No. 9 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WAKE) d. Kyle Kang (STAN), 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
3. No. 101 Max Basing (STAN) d. No. 123 Ioannis Xilas (WAKE), 7-6 (2), 6-0
4. No. 73 Henry von der Schulenburg (STAN) d. Charlie Robertson (WAKE), 6-2, 6-3
5. Luciano Tacchi (WAKE) d. Nico Godsick (STAN), 6-2, 6-4
6. Luca Pow (WAKE) d. Alex Razeghi (STAN), 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 2