Michigan
Wake Forest
U-M's Fight Falls Short at Wake Forest in NCAA Second Round
5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Runhao Hua
» Michigan won the doubles point with a pair of tiebreak wins at both No. 2 and No. 3. The Wolverines extended their lead to 2-0 following a Wake retirement, but the Demon Deacons won the next four singles matches for the win.
» The Wolverines were down 3-2 with matches on court at No. 5 and No. 6. Wake Forest used a late break at No. 5 to seal the win.
» Michigan finished with 21 wins, the third-best single-season total in school history and most wins since going for 26 in 1988.
Site: Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Event: NCAA Tournament (Second Round)
Score: #6 Wake Forest 4, #24 Michigan 2
Records: U-M (21-8), WF (31-5)
Next U-M Event: Season Complete
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The No. 24-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team took a 2-0 lead on No. 6-ranked Wake Forest but could not pull off the upset, falling 4-2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon (May 14) at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
Michigan took the early lead, winning the doubles point with a pair of tiebreak wins at No. 2 and No. 3.
After dropping the match at No. 1, U-M saw the No. 2 duo of juniors Jathan Malik and Kevin Wong head to a tiebreaker.
At the same time, U-M's No. 3 duo of freshman Myles Schalet and junior Tyler Gardiner entered a tiebreaker of its own.
Malik and Wong came through first, winning 8-6 by winning the tiebreaker's final two points to break a 6-all score. A few minutes later, Schalet and Gardiner delivered a 7-5 win to seal up the match's first point. The U-M duo took a 4-2 lead and held the lead the rest of the way to record the first point.
Michigan's lead was pushed to 2-0 when sophomore Runhao Hua's opponent retired at No. 4. Hua won the first, 6-1, and was up 1-0 in the second when Romain Bogaerts retired.
Wake evened the team score at 2-2 after the match's second rain delay with wins at No. 3 and No. 2.
Following the rain delay, junior/sophomore Davis Crocker won his second set at No. 6 to head to a third.
Wake Forest put another point on the board with a straight-set win at No. 1.
Crocker recovered from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match and get back on serve at 3-3 in the third set. He kept the momentum going, winning the next two games for a 5-3 lead.
Wong stayed the course at No. 5, exchanging breaks but keeping his match at 4-4 in the final set.
Crocker was broken when attempting to serve out the match, trimming his lead to 5-4. At the same time, Wong was broken to fall behind 5-4. Wake's Christian Seraphim finished off the match by winning the ensuing game, taking a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5.
Michigan completes its season with a 21-8 mark, the third-best win total for the Wolverines in school history. U-M went from seven wins a season ago to 21 this season, marking the best turnaround in program history.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 13 Skander Mansouri (WF) d. Alex Knight (U-M), 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 27 Petros Chrysochos (WF) d. No. 96 Jathan Malik (U-M), 6-0, 7-5
No. 3 -- Jon Ho (WF) d. Carter Lin (U-M), 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 -- Runhao Hua (U-M) d. Romain Bogaerts (WF), 6-1, 1-0 retired
No. 5 -- Christian Seraphim (WF) d. Kevin Wong (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 -- Davis Crocker (U-M) vs. Dennis Uspensky (WF), 1-6, 6-2, 5-4 abandoned
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 13 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) d. Alex Knight/Runhao Hua (U-M)
No. 2 -- Jathan Malik/Kevin Wong (U-M) d. No. 79 Jon Ho/Petros Chrysochos (WF), 7-6 (6)
No. 3 -- Myles Schalet/Tyler Gardiner (U-M) d. Maksim Kan/Dennis Uspensky (WF), 7-6 (5)
Order of Completion: 1-2-3, Singles 4-3-2-1-5
Players Mentioned
