Michigan
Wake Forest
Wake Forest Outlasts Michigan in Opening Match of ITA Indoors
2/16/2024 11:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: New York, N.Y. (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center)
Event: ITA National Team Indoor Championship
Score: #9 Wake Forest 4, #13 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (5-4), Wake Forest (8-2)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 17 -- vs. No. 3 Texas - at ITA National Team Indoor Championship (New York), 3:30 p.m.
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team fell, 4-1, to No. 9 Wake Forest in the opening round of the ITA National Indoor Championships on Friday (Feb. 16) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Patorn Hanchaikul earned a win for the Wolverines at No. 3 singles. The 125th-ranked senior took matching 6-3 sets from Matthew Thomson to tie the match at 1-1. The Demon Deacons picked up the doubles point in a tight finish as both No. 1 and No. 3 went into tiebreakers.
Michigan needed to win both after Wake Forest won 6-2 at No. 2. Alex Cairo and Nicholas Steiglehner traded games with Luca Pow and Lucianna Tacchi at No. 3 and headed into a breaker at 6-6. It was another back-and-forth affair, sitting at 7-7 but Wake took the final two points to earn the win and the doubles point. At that point Jacob Bickersteth and Gavin Young, held a 5-4 advantage in their tiebreaker over No. 7 ranked Henry Koons and Dhakshinewswar Suresh but the match was halted.
Wake pushed ahead winning at No. 4 and No. 6 singles to take a 3-1 lead. In an everlasting tiebreak at No. 2 singles between Bickersteth and Suresh, it was Suresh who took the 7-6 (11-9) tiebreaker after winning the first set 6-2 to clinch the fourth point in the team score for the Demon Deacons.
Michigan will face No. 3 Texas on Saturday (Feb. 17) in a consolation match at 3:30 p.m. at the USTA Center. The Longhorns dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 14 Arizona earlier today.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 – No. 23 Filippo Moroni (WFU) vs. No. 17 Gavin Young (U-M) 7-6 (2), 2-1 abandoned
No. 2 – No. 49 Dhakshinewswar Suresh (WFU) d. No. 48 Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) 6-2, 7-6 (11-9)
No. 3 – No. 125 Patorn Hanchaikul (U-M) d. Matthew Thomson (WFU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Luciana Tacchi (WFU) d. Bjorn Swenson (U-M) 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 – Will Cooksey (U-M) vs. Henry Koons (WFU) 6-3, 5-3 abandoned
No. 6 – Luca Pow (WFU) d. Nicholas Steiglehner (U-M) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 – Young/Bickersteth (U-M) vs. No. 7 Koons/Suresh (WFU) 6-6 (5-4) abandoned
No. 2 – Moroni/Thomson (WFU) d. Cooksey/Hanchaukul (U-M) 6-2
No. 3 – Pow/Tacchi d. Alex Cairo/Steiglehner (U-M) 7-6 (9-7)
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3; Singles 3-4-6-2
Players Mentioned
