No. 5 Carolina Falls To Top-Ranked Wake Forest

Wednesday, March 28

Chapel Hill

3:00 PM

North Carolina

Wake Forest

Freshman Mac Kiger won at No. 6 singles.

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 28, 2018 | Men's Tennis

Photo Gallery

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina men's tennis team suffered its first Atlantic Coast Conference loss of the season Wednesday afternoon, falling 4-3 to top-ranked Wake Forest. Playing in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center outdoor courts, the fifth-ranked Tar Heels fought back after dropping the doubles point but were unable to pull off the team win.

UNC is now 13-4 overall while Wake Forest improved to 15-1. Both teams are 4-1 in ACC play.

"Congratulations to Wake," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "I knew our guys wouldn't quit and it comes down to the last match, and there we go … a couple points here and there. They outplayed us in a couple of spots but I think we learned a lot today about our team. I told our team, 'The prize is in May.' We've got some more work to do."

Wake took the doubles point with wins on Courts 2 and 3, but the Tar Heels bounced back to open with wins on four of six singles courts. The exceptions were Courts 2 and 4, where the Demon Deacons went on to win in straight sets.

Court 4 was the first to finish, with No. 30 Skander Mansouri beating UNC's Robert Kelly, 6-4, 6-4. That made the overall score 2-0.

Junior Blaine Boyden then earned a point for the Tar Heels with a 6-2, 6-2 win at the No. 5 spot. When UNC freshman Benjamin Sigouin fell to seventh-ranked Petros Chrysochos on Court 2, the Tar Heels trailed 3-1.

UNC 1 Wake 2 Boyden d. Gadjev 6-2, 6-2 pic.twitter.com/nBXOp2kgFn
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) March 28, 2018

Carolina claimed the next two points, however, with sophomore William Blumberg winning 6-4, 7-5 over No. 29 Borna Gojo on Court 1 and then freshman Mac Kiger wrapping up a win by the same scores on Court 6.

Blumberg breaks for 5-4 pic.twitter.com/CDtmELDVD4
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) March 28, 2018

UNC 3 Wake 3 Mac Kiger 6-4, 7-5 at #6 pic.twitter.com/KnVJeC13kH
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) March 28, 2018

With that, all eyes were on Court 3 for the only match that went into a third set. UNC's Simon Soendergaard won his first set 6-1 then fell in the second. With the players from both teams cheering from the adjacent court, WFU's Bar Botzer won 6-3 in the third to clinch the team victory.
He won a 40-40 point to break for 2-2, then held for 3-2 to get back on serve. After both players held serve, Botzer broke Soendergaard at 30-40 3-4 to serve for the match.

"They've got a deep team – they're good all the way up and down the lineup," Paul said. "We've got to play a complete match … we've got to play better doubles."

The Tar Heels are back in action Sunday, hosting Virginia for another ACC contest. The last time the teams met was in the NCAA Championship match in May of 2017, when the Cavaliers came out on top 4-2.

No. 1 Wake Forest 4, No. 5 UNC 3
Doubles
Order of match finish: (3,2)
1. #3 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) vs. Dempster/Mansouri, 5-6 UF
2. Botzer/Chrysochos (WF) d. Sigouin/Boyden (UNC), 6-4
3. Gojo/Gadijev (WF) d. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC), 6-3

Singles
Order of match finish: (2,)
1. #2 William Blumberg (UNC) d. #29 Borna Gojo (WF), 6-4, 7-5
2. #7 Petros Chrysochos (WF) d. #34 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC), 7-5, 6-3
3. Bar Botzer (WF) d. Simon Soendergaard (UNC), 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
4. #30 Skander Mansouri (WF) d. #99 Robert Kelly (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Rrezart Cungu (WF), 6-2, 6-2
6. Mac Kiger (UNC) d. Alan Gadijev (WF), 6-4, 7-5

Records: UNC 13-4 (4-1 ACC), Wake Forest 15-1 (4-1)