No. 1 Wake Forest pulls past Arizona for semifinal berth
Athens, GA — The reigning champs were not to be stopped.
En route to their third-straight national semifinal berth, Wake Forest put away No. 8 Arizona 4-1. After pulling ahead with the doubles point and securing two quick straight-set singles win, the Demon Deacons gave up some ground. Arizona rallied back to 1-3, and with No. 4 senior Jay Friend about to secure Court 1, Wake Forest was playing with fire.
Demon Deacon sophomore Joaquin Guilleme battled Arizona freshman Alejandro Arcila with a chance to help his team move on to the next round. He had lost the first set 0-6 and looked like a lost cause. But after gaining momentum and winning the second set 7-5, Guilleme cruised to a 6-2 victory in the final set to secure the duel victory.
It was a robotic doubles win for Wake, only dropping two games on the top two courts. The No. 1 combo of redshirt freshman Delgado and senior DK Suresh won 6-2, while Rottgering and sophomore Kacper Szymkowiak downed No. 43 Friend and junior Alexander Rozin.
On Court 2, Wake Forest star No. 38 freshman Mees Rottgering trounced No. 74 Filip Gustafsson 6-2, 6-1. Soon on Court 5, Wake's No. 125 freshman Aryan Shah bounced sophomore Glib Sekachov 6-4, 6-2.
With an 0-3 deficit, Arizona stole a point. No. 98 Rozin took down No. 28 junior Luca Pow 6-3, 7-5 in exciting fashion. But all was for not as Arcila could not hold of Guilleme.
Wake Forest will face the winner of Virginia–Mississippi State at 1 p.m. Saturday, looking to continue its quest of a repeat title.
