.png&width=36&height=36&type=webp)
University of North Carolina Athletics
WIlliam Blumberg and the Tar Heels play Wake Forest in the final four on Saturday.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Carolina Set For Final Four Meeting With Wake
May 17, 2019 | Men's Tennis
ORLANDO, Fla. – The North Carolina men's tennis team has pulled off upsets in its last two matches, and Saturday the Tar Heels will look for another one as they meet Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament semifinals at the USTA National Campus. Ninth-seeded UNC (22-6) takes on fourth-seeded Wake (33-3) at 4 p.m., following a semifinal matchup between second-seeded Texas and third-seeded Florida at noon. The winners meet Sunday for the NCAA crown.
The UNC women also are playing in the NCAA semis on Saturday, making North Carolina the first school since Cal in 2016 and the first ACC school ever to have its men's and women's tennis teams in the final four in the same year.
The men were idle on Friday, giving the Tar Heels time to rest and recover after Thursday's upset win over top-seeded Ohio State. "We're excited we won, but now we have another match to play," UNC coach Sam Paul said Friday afternoon. "We're putting our focus on playing our best tennis tomorrow."
UNC and Wake have met just one other time in NCAA play, but it was a memorable one. In 2017 in Athens, Ga., Carolina beat WFU 4-2 in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals for the first time in program history. The Demon Deacons were ranked and seeded No. 1, and the match spanned eight hours – including rain delays – and finished just after midnight. That win was the only other time before this year that UNC had reached the NCAA semis.
This is the second time this season that UNC and Wake have met in the semifinals of a national championship. They also played in the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago in February, with Wake winning 4-2. The Demon Deacons won the regular-season matchup 5-2 on March 27 in Winston-Salem.
Saturday's match will air live on the Tennis Channel.
The UNC women also are playing in the NCAA semis on Saturday, making North Carolina the first school since Cal in 2016 and the first ACC school ever to have its men's and women's tennis teams in the final four in the same year.
The men were idle on Friday, giving the Tar Heels time to rest and recover after Thursday's upset win over top-seeded Ohio State. "We're excited we won, but now we have another match to play," UNC coach Sam Paul said Friday afternoon. "We're putting our focus on playing our best tennis tomorrow."
UNC and Wake have met just one other time in NCAA play, but it was a memorable one. In 2017 in Athens, Ga., Carolina beat WFU 4-2 in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals for the first time in program history. The Demon Deacons were ranked and seeded No. 1, and the match spanned eight hours – including rain delays – and finished just after midnight. That win was the only other time before this year that UNC had reached the NCAA semis.
This is the second time this season that UNC and Wake have met in the semifinals of a national championship. They also played in the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago in February, with Wake winning 4-2. The Demon Deacons won the regular-season matchup 5-2 on March 27 in Winston-Salem.
Saturday's match will air live on the Tennis Channel.
MTEN vs. NC Central, court 6
Sunday, February 15
WBB: Post-Duke Conference - Feb. 15, 2026
Sunday, February 15
UNC Women's Basketball: Tar Heels Fall at Duke, 72-68
Sunday, February 15
UNC Men's Lacrosse: Tar Heels Cruise Past Iona, 23-7
Sunday, February 15