The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#3 Wake Forest
No. 8 Men’s Tennis hosts Top-10 showdown against No. 3 Wake Forest
03.01.2017 | Men's Tennis
Free pizza and T-shirts available at Saturday's match, which is the first of two home matches this month against top-three teams.
NOTE: MATCH WILL RELOCATE INDOORS TO WELLER TENNIS CENTER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS GOLF CLUB
AUSTIN, Texas – If this Saturday's top-10 showdown featuring No. 8 Texas and No. 3 Wake Forest is anything like the last few meetings between the two schools, local tennis fans will be in for a treat.
Three years ago, Texas rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the final match remaining to post a 4-3 win over Wake at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event in Nashville. Two years ago, No. 6 Texas held on for a 4-3 victory over the Demon Deacons in Austin.
Then came last season's match in Winston-Salem where Texas rallied from a 3-1 deficit and posted a once-improbable 4-3 win over then-No. 5 Wake Forest on the Demon Deacons' home courts. Wake Forest appeared to be well on its way to its 10th victory of the season, but the Longhorns closed out the match with three third-set tiebreak wins to close out a stunning victory.
"Wake Forest had an incredibly strong team last year, and they had us down the entire time," Texas head coach Michael Center recalled. "Our guys hung around and pulled out three tiebreakers in the third (sets) to win the match. I don't think I had ever seen that happen until that match at Wake Forest."
Last month, then-No. 10 Texas nearly rallied from a 3-0 deficit to knock off the second-ranked Demon Deacons in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Longhorns pulled even at 3-all, but Wake Forest held at No. 6 singles to move on to the semifinals.
"We were up 4-3 in the third on the last court remaining, and Wake Forest played extremely well in the end to win," Center said. "So yes, we've had some classic matches with Wake the last few years."
Now ranked No. 3 in the latest ITA team poll, Wake Forest brings to Austin a powerful team headed by the nation's top-ranked singles player who also ranks No. 1 nationally in doubles. Petros Chrysochos co-owns the No. 1 national singles ranking with Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard. Last fall, Chrysochos won the singles title at the ITA All-American Championships, the first of three national championship events this season.
Wake's eighth-ranked Skander Mansouri, who ranks No. 1 in doubles with Chrysochos, and 34th-ranked Christian Seraphim join Chrysochos in the ITA singles rankings.
"With Wake Forest, we're talking about high-end players, Davis Cup players who have tremendous experience," Center said. "They're as good as anybody in the country at Nos. 1 and 2 singles. We're going to have to come out and really compete at those spots if we want to give ourselves a chance to win."
Texas brings a balanced and battle-tested lineup into Saturday's match against Wake Forest. Eleventh-ranked freshman Christian Sigsgaard won his first 14 collegiate matches last fall on his way to the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championships.
Senior George Goldhoff brings a wealth of experience to the top half of the Longhorns' lineup. The Californian defeated Chrysochos in last season's match at Wake Forest, and in his last match, Goldhoff defeated Oklahoma State's 102nd-ranked Lukas Finzelberg in three sets to help Texas knock off the Cowboys at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
"We have a deep team with a lot of good players," Center said. "It's a tough spot for a freshman to be playing at No. 1 (singles), but Christian has learned a lot, and he's starting to play better. And George has been playing better, as well."
Sophomore Harrison Scott ranks 48th in the latest ITA singles rankings. The Canadian has won all 12 of his dual matches, and he hasn't suffered a loss since last October.
"The biggest difference I see when I watch Harrison play is how much more comfortable he is moving forward and finishing balls at the net," Center saide. "He was more hesitant to do that last year, when he would backtrack to the baseline and over-play some of those balls. This year, Harrison is more at ease with his overall game. He is as powerful as anyone from the back of the court, and he is a much more complete player."
Ranked 31st nationally, freshman Yuya Ito brings a 20-8 overall record, including an 8-2 mark in dual matches, into Saturday's match. Brazilian sophomore Leonardo Telles is unbeaten in eight dual matches, and sophomore Rodrigo Banzer of Bolivia is 8-2 in dual matches. Junior John Mee and sophomore Julian Zlobinsky have further solidified the middle and bottom half of the Longhorns' singles lineup with their eight singles wins between them.
"We've been very, very good in the middle part of our lineup," Center added, "and if we just continue to keep improving, I think we'll be able to beat anyone. "Our doubles has improved, though we're still not where we need to be. But, with three of the (nation's) top-six teams on our schedule over the next few weeks, we'll learn even more about our team."
#3 Wake Forest at #8 Texas
Saturday, March 4 – 3 p.m. CT
Edgar O. and Melanie A. Weller Tennis Center - The University of Texas Golf Club
2200 University Club Drive
Austin, Texas
- Admission is free for all regular season matches
- Live Scoring: http://www.sidearmstats.com/texas/mten/
SUNDAY'S MATCH (note the location change)
Rice at Texas
Sunday, March 5 – 3 p.m. CT
Westwood Country Club
3808 West 35th Street
Austin, Texas 78703
Players Mentioned
