UCLA
Wake Forest
No. 7 UCLA Edged by Top-Ranked Wake Forest
February 16, 2019 | Men's Tennis
CHICAGO โ The No. 7 UCLA men's tennis team was edged by No. 1 Wake Forest 4-3 Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the ITA Team Indoor Championships at the Midtown Athletic Club.
Playing with four freshman on the singles courts for the second straight day, the sixth-seeded Bruins (4-2) held leads at 2-0 and 3-2, but could not hold on against the third-seeded Demon Deacons (11-1). Ben Goldberg and Maxime Cressy posted singles wins after an exciting finish to doubles play that saw the Bruins come away with the point for the third straight match and second time in as many tournament contests.
UCLA's Bryce Pereira and Patrick Zahraj continued settling into a comfort zone as partners, controlling their Court 3 match against Siddhant Banthia and Melios Efstathiou from the start. Pereira-Zahraj jumped out to a 3-0 advantage and quickly regrouped after dropping the next two games. The Bruins went on to double up Banthia-Efstathiou and put the ever-important first victory in the win column for UCLA.
Upon completion on Court 3, each of the remaining two matches was knotted at four games apiece.
Coming off its first win of the season, Ben Goldberg and Govind Nanda of the Bruins had secured two games in a row to pull even. The 54th-ranked and veteran pair of Alan Gadjiev and Julian Zlobinsky ultimately proved too strong, taking the final two games to set up an all-or-nothing finish on the top court.
Teaming up for the first time, Maxime Cressy and Connor Rapp led the Wake tandem of Bar Botzer and Petros Chrysochos 5-4 in what had transpired as a back-and-forth affair. Determined to not let the match reach a 12th game, the Bruins broke with a Rapp overhead smash and took a 1-0 lead into singles play.
Wake did what it needed to open singles action, securing four of six first sets.
Goldberg picked up one of the UCLA first sets and rode it to a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 88 Rrezart Cungu. The win improved the Bruin junior's dual-match record to 3-1 and gave him his second ITA Indoors victory in as many days.
The Demon Deacons cut their deficit in half when the defending NCAA singles champion and current No. 1 Petros Chrysochos topped Nanda 6-1, 6-4. The loss marked the first of Nanda's dual-match singles career.
Wake pulled even shortly thereafter, as Duval Solomon defeated Eric Hahn 6-2, 6-2 on Court 6. The decision marked the first for Hahn, who made his dual-match debut in an unfinished match Friday.
In the top-court showdown between Cressy and 2018 NCAA singles runner-up Borna Gojo, the Bruin responded from an early first-set deficit to get off on the right foot. With a first-set win in his back pocket, Cressy found himself tied at five games apiece in the second. In danger of heading to a third set, the lone Bruin senior took control, taking the final two games and retaking the overall lead.
One day after clinching his first ITA Indoors match, Zahraj gave 21st-ranked Botzer everything he could handle. Botzer took the first set 6-4, but Zahraj would not go down easily. The second set ended in a tiebreaker, which the Demon Deacon claimed 7-5.
The match eventually rested on Court 4, where two freshman squared off. Efstathiou, ranked No. 49 nationally, registered a convincing 6-3 first-set win over Tsolakyan. The Bruin answered, though, taking the second with a 6-3 effort of his own.
Tsolakyan jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, but Efstathiou showed why he is ranked among the nation's best by taking the next four games. The Bruin answered to tie at five games each, but Efstathiou took control down the stretch with the final two games and the clinching victory.
UCLA will conclude at ITA Indoors Sunday, when it faces No. 15 seed TCU in a consolation match. First serve between the Bruins and the Horned Frogs will come at 10 a.m., PT.
Tennis Match Results
UCLA vs Wake Forest
2/16/2019 at Chicago, IL
(Midtown Athletic Club)
#1 Wake Forest 4, #7 UCLA 3
Singles competition
1. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Borna Gojo (WAKE) 6-4, 7-5
2. #1 Petros Chrysochos (WAKE) def. Govind Nanda (UCLA) 6-1, 6-4
3. #21 Bar Botzer (WAKE) def. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
4. #49 Melios Efstathiou (WAKE) def. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
5. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) def. #88 Rrezart Cungu (WAKE) 6-2, 6-3
6. Yuval Solomon (WAKE) def. Eric Hahn (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Maxime Cressy/Connor Rapp (UCLA) def. Bar Botzer/Petros Chrysochos (WAKE) 6-4
2. #54 Alan Gadjiev/Julian Zlobinsky (WAKE) def. Ben Goldberg/Govind Nanda (UCLA) 6-4
3. Bryce Pereira/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) def. Siddhant Banthia/Melios Efstathiou (WAKE) 6-3
Match Notes:
UCLA 4-2; National ranking #7
Wake Forest 11-1; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,2,6,1,3,4)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,2,6,1,3,4
Players Mentioned
