Syracuse Tennis completed the comeback to knock off Wake Forest 4-3.
By Evan Zaretsky | @evan_zaretsky
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Syracuse Tennis (5-8, 1-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference) began a four game road stretch against #65 Wake Forest (9-9, 1-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference) this afternoon.
SU’s top doubles pairing Nelly Knezkova and Anastasia Sysoeva made their return to doubles against Wake Forest, but surprisingly it was SU’s No. 2 pairing that shined. Serafima Shastova and Monika Wojcik won their match 6-3. Constance Levivier and Lenna Benneto fell to Krystal Blanch and Aubrey Nisbet of Wake Forest 6-2. That meant SU’s No. 1 Sysoeva and Knezkova had to win to give Syrcause the point. The two were tied 5-5, but lost two consecutive games to give Wake Forest the doubles point.
The opening set for singles didn’t go Syracuse’s way to start. The Cuse went down on all six courts early, and Emma Scaldalai was swept 6-0. But, the Orange closed the gap on the other five courts. Serafima Shastova won set one 6-2. Knekova took the first set 6-4 and Bennetto won the first set 6-4. Syracuse took three of six opening sets.
Considering the Orange had to take four singles matches to win the overall match, one of the matches had to push a third set. Monika Wojcik won the second set 7-6 to force the match to set three. Knekova fell in the second set 6-1, Bennetto fell 6-4. Scaldalai and Sysoeva both lost their second sets to give the Deamon Deacons a 3-1 lead.
In the third set, Knezkova dominated Evie Oxford 6-1 to push Syracuse down 3-2. Lenna Benneto won her third set 6-3, tying the game at 2. That meant it all came down to this set of Monika Wojcik and Heidi Bulger. Wojcik went up 3-1 to start and carried it through to win 6-3 giving SU the win!
FINAL: Syracuse 4 – 3 Wake Forest
Syracuse gets a day of rest tomorrow, and it might need it because next up is #9 NC State (13-5, 5-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference) on Sunday. The last time the Orange played the Wolfpack in 2024, SU pulled off a 4-3 upset win. First doubles serve in Raleigh is set for 11am. For live coverage of the match, follow @evan_zaretsky and @citrustvsports on X/Twitter!
