Michigan
Wake Forest
No. 10 Wake Forest Squeaks by Michigan at ITA Kick-Off
1/28/2022 11:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest Tennis Center)
Event: ITA Kick-Off (Day 1 of 2)
Result: #10 Wake Forest 4, #16 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (2-2), Wake Forest (8-1)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 29 - vs. SMU - ITA Kick-Off, Day 2 (Winston-Salem, N.C.), 2 p.m.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- It was a battle that came down to the wire between the No. 16-ranked University of Michigan and No. 10 Wake Forest, but the Demon Deacons captured the final singles match to take their first and only lead in a 4-3 win over the Wolverines on Friday (Jan. 28) in their ITA Kick-Off opening match at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
The Wolverines captured the doubles point for the second straight match to take a 1-0 lead. With the point, Michigan handed Wake Forest its first doubles loss of the season after it started 8-0 in pairs.
Senior Patrick Maloney and graduate student Nick Beaty paired up for their first dual doubles match of the season and earned a 7-6 (2) win over Eduardo Nova and Matthew Thomson. It evened doubles after No. 26-ranked Ben Draper and Robert Macaig stopped Gavin Young and Will Cooksey 6-4 at No. 3. Coming down to No. 1 doubles between the No. 43-ranked pair of Andrew Fenty and Nino Ehrenschneider and No. 19 Siddhant Banthia and Jakob Schnaitter where it was even at 6-6. The Wolverines jumped out to a 4-3 edge in the tiebreaker and then rattled off three straight points to take it 7-6 (3).
Playing in his first match since Nov. 7, Beaty stepped up at No. 6 singles but was not back in rhythm as No. 100-ranked Taha Baadi won by matching 6-3 scores.
Fenty pushed Michigan back ahead 2-1 with his first singles win of the dual season, taking down Jurabek Karimov by matching 6-3 scores at No. 1 singles.
Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 all played out to three sets as the showdown continued.
After dropping a 6-2 opening set, Ehrenschneider rebounded with a 6-4 win in the second set to force a third. Ehrenschneider had a two-match singles win streak halted with a 6-1 loss in the third set, knotting the team score 2-2.
No. 67 Jacob Bickersteth continued to move up the lineup, playing and winning his first match at No. 2. Now 3-0 on the season, Bickersteth rallied from a first-set loss to take the match from Nova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Maloney lost his first singles match of the young season to Melios Efstathious, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 at No. 3 to bring the team score down to court four.
No. 43 ranked Gavin Young, on a seven-match win streak in his first year as a Wolverine, was facing Filippo Moroni, who eked out a 7-6 first set before Young cruised to a 6-3 win in the second. With all eyes on the match, tied at 2-2, Moroni distanced himself and won the final three points and finishing the set 6-3.
On Saturday (Jan. 29), Michigan will face Southern Methodist University at 2 p.m. in its ITA Kick-Off finale at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- Andrew Fenty (U-M) d. Jurabek Karimov (WF), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 -- No. 67 Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) d. Eduardo Nova (WF), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 -- Melios Efstathious (WF) d. Patrick Maloney (U-M), 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
No. 4 -- Filippo Moroni (WF) d. No. 43 Gavin Young (U-M) 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-3
No. 5 -- No. 85 Jakob Schnaitter (WF) d. Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M), 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
No. 6 -- No. 100 Taha Baadi (WF) d. Nick Beaty (U-M), 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 43 Andrew Fenty/Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) d. No 19 Siddhant Banthia/Jakob Schnaitter (WF), 7-6 (3)
No. 2 -- Patrick Maloney/Nick Beaty (U-M) d. Eduardo Nova/Matthew Thomson (WF), 7-6 (2)
No. 3 -- No. 26 Ben Draper/Robert Macaig (WF) d. Gavin Young/Will Cooksey (U-M), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1, Singles 6-1-5-2-3-4
Players Mentioned
