No. 20 Wake Forest Drops 4-3 Heartbreaker to No. 2 Tennessee
Feb. 28, 2010
Final Stats
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The 20th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to second-ranked Tennessee in front of over 300 fans at Leighton Stadium in Winston-Salem.
Wake Forest is now 5-2 for the season and Tennessee improves to 11-1.
"It was a tough loss, but our whole team was really grateful for the great crowd that braved the cold to watch us," Wake Forest head coach Jeff Zinn said.
"It makes a huge difference and we hope that students and community members will continue to support us throughout the season."
Wake Forest dropped the doubles point to fall behind 1-0 going into singles. Tripper Carleton and Jon Wolff picked up Wake's lone doubles win of the afternoon taking an 8-5 win at No. 3.
The Demon Deacon veterans had a terrific outing against some of nation's top competitors in singles. Senior Steven Forman took down 21st-ranked Boris Conkic 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 and junior Jonathon Wolff also pulled an upset, defeating 30th-ranked Rhyne Williams 6-3, 6-3.
Junior Iain Atkinson topped Tennys Sandgren, formerly a highly ranked junior player who joined Tennessee's squad in January, with a score of 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
The match came down to third set contests with Wake Forest rookies Tripper Carleton and Zach Leslie. Carleton suffered his first loss of the season when second-ranked John-Patrick Smith took a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles. Zach Leslie also fell to No. 86 Matt Brewer 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. Classmate Danny Kreyman fell at No. 6 to Matteo Fago, 6-2, 6-2.
"We had chances in both matches where were ahead in the third set. You hope those young guys can pull that out, but obviously it's a huge challenge. This match is great experience for them and will be huge help in the future," Zinn said.
On March 10 Wake Forest will continue non-conference play with USC in Los Angeles.
Final Score: Tennessee 4, Wake Forest 3
Singles
1. #2 John-Patrick Smith, UT, def. Tripper Carleton, WF, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
2. Steve Forman, WF, def. #21 Boris Conkic, UT, 6-1, 6-4
3. Jonathan Wolff, WF, def. #30 Rhyne Williams, UT, 6-3, 6-3
4. No. 117 Iain Atkinson, WF, def. Tennys Sandgren, UT, 6-4, 6-0
5. #86 Matt Brewer, UT, def. Zach Leslie, WF, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
6. Matteo Fago, UT, def. Danny Kreyman, WF, 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. #3 D. Sandgren/Smith, UT, def. #12 Atkinson/Forman, WF, 8-5
2. #6 Conkic/Williams, UT, def. Hopkins/Salmon, WF, 8-3
Carleton/Wolff, WF, def. Jones/T. Sandgren, UT, 8-5
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,3,5,1,6).
