In a back-and-forth dual match that came down to the final set on the last court, the 13th-ranked Wake Forest men’s tennis team edged No. 17 Georgia, 4-3, on a cool and windy Friday night at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
With the match tied at 3-3, the Demon Deacon’s Eduardo Nava defeated Georgia’s Philip Henning, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, at No. 3 singles to clinch the victory. The Bulldogs (8-5) return to action Sunday when they host No. 21 UCF at noon.
“It’s disappointing because I think we put ourselves in a position to win this match. It’s one that got away,” Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz said.
Wake Forest (17-4) prevailed in a pair of tiebreakers to capture the doubles point. After Georgia’s Trent Bryde and Tyler Zink took down Eduardo Nava and Henri Squire at No. 1 doubles, winning 6-3, the other two matches went the distance.
At No. 3 Georgia’s Philip Henning and Erik Grevelius from 4-1 down to draw even — fighting off a matchup point when Wake Forest’s Matthew Thomson and Siddhant Banthia were up 5-4 —and the match eventually went to 6-6. In the tiebreaker, neither side was able to get many points on its serve. With Henning serving with Georgia up 5-4, the Demon Deacons won back-to-back points and then closed out the set on serve, winning 7-6 (7-5).
addgThe doubles point then came down to No. 2, where Georgia’s Billy Rowe and Blake Croyder were up a break of serve for much of the set against Wake Forests’ Melios Efstathiou and Taha Baadi. The Demon Deacon duo managed to break back to tie things at 4-all, and the match eventually reached 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Wake Forest got ahead a couple of points early and pulled out a 7-6 (7-4) win, securing the doubles point and a 1-0 lead.
“We were in control of the doubles and playing well, but you’ve got to give all the credit to Wake,” Diaz said. “They just hung around and at the end of the doubles played bigger than we did. They played to win and they won two tiebreakers for the doubles point.”
Croyder got off to a roaring start in singles and defeated Rrezart Cungu at the No. 4 spot, winning 6-0, 6-4, and tying the match 1-1. The Demon Deacons regained the lead a few minutes later with a win at No. 1, where Squire defeated Bryde 6-4, 6-2.
Zink drew Georgia back even with a strong performance against Baadi at No. 2, winning 6-3, 6-4. The Bulldogs briefly took a 3-2 lead on Grevelius’ 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Banthia at No. 6, but about 10 seconds after Grevelius closed out his win, Efstathiou closed out a 7-5, 6-3 win over Rowe at No. 5, knotting the team score at 3-3.
“Our guys came back resolute, determined, and did a great job fighting back,” Diaz said.
All that remained was the No. 3 singles match, where Henning and Nava were just beginning the third set. Nava held to open the third and then broke Henning for a 2-0 lead. Henning was able to get the break back but Nava answered with a break of his own and then was able to pull out the win.
For more information on the Bulldogs, visit Georgiadogs.com. You can also get updates on the team on Twitter (@UGATennis) and Instagram (@ugatennis).
Results
No. 13 Wake Forest 4, No. 17 Georgia 3
Doubles
1. Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink (UGA) def. Eduardo Nava/Henri Squire (WFU), 6-3
2. Matthew Thomson/Siddhant Banthia (WFU) def. Philip Henning/Erik Grevelius (UGA), 7-6 (7-5)
3. Matthew Thomson/Siddhant Banthia (WFU) def. Billy Rowe/Blake Croyder (UGA), 7-6 (7-4)
Singles
1. Henri Squire (WFU) def. Trent Bryde (UGA), 6-4, 6-2
2. Tyler Zink (UGA) def. Taha Baadi (WFU), 6-3, 6-4
3. Eduardo Nava (WFU) def. Philip Henning (UGA), 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
4. Blake Croyder (UGA) def. Rrezart Cungu (WFU), 6-0, 6-4
5. Melios Efstathiou (WFU) def. Billy Rowe (UGA), 7-5, 6-3
6. Erik Grevelius (UGA) def. Siddhant Banthia (WFU), 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 4, 1, 2, 6, 5, 3
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