Wake Forest Squeezes Past Texas 4-3 to Reach ITA Men's D-I Team Indoor Final, TCU Breezes Past Stanford to Advance to Fourth Straight Indoor Final
©Colette Lewis 2025--
Dallas Texas--
It was business as usual for both Wake Forest and TCU, with the top seeds reaching Tuesday evening's final of ITA Division I Men's Team Indoor Championships in contrasting fashion, with the SMU No. 1 seed Demon Deacons getting their third 4-3 win of the season over Texas, while the No. 1 Baylor seed Horned Frogs advanced to their fourth straight Team Indoor final with a 4-0 victory over Stanford.
The Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on the SMU campus, the site of the semifinals and finals, drew fans for both Texas teams, but the Longhorn faithful were unable to dent the confidence of the undefeated Wake team, who have won every match this year, including three earlier wins over teams that went on to make the Indoor field.
Wake started out up 1-0, which they have done in all 13 of their victories this year, by taking the doubles point from Texas with wins at lines 1 and 3, and that point proved the cushion they needed when the teams split first sets in singles.
But by the time Wake's Charlie Robertson had secured a 70-minute 7-6 first set in his match with Pierre-Yves Bailly at line 3, DK Suresh of Wake had already taken the second set from Sebastian Gorzny at line 2, giving Wake a little breathing room.
But a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 win from Texas freshman Timo Legout over Stefan Dostanic at line 1 brought the Longhorns even, and a second set comeback from Texas freshman Oliver Ojakaar at line 5, who trailed Luciano Tacchi 4-1 before closing out a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory, gave Texas a 2-1 lead. That was short lived, with Wake's Luca Pow pulling his team even with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Sebastian Eriksson at line 6.
In the three remaining matches, Gorzny and Suresh were at 3-3 in the third, Wake's Ioannis Xilas was up 6-3, 5-5 in the second in his line 4 match with Jonah Braswell, and Robertson and Bailly were at 1-1 in the second set.
Xilas, who lost his break in the second set, still had two match points in the second set tiebreaker, but Braswell approached on the first, forcing a missed pass from Xilas, then blasted a forehand winner on the run within inches of the baseline on the second. Braswell, who had clinched the quarterfinal win over Virginia on Saturday, then converted his first set point in the tiebreaker, with a good first serve forcing a return error, earning a third set.
"I knew I was fitter, I knew I was playing better," said the 23-year-old graduate student from Greece. "I was a bit unlucky in the second set to lose that, I was a break up and had a couple of match points in the breaker, but honestly, he played them very well, so I just kept staying in the present."
Bailly took the second set from Robertson as Gorzny and Suresh were headed to a third set tiebreaker, which was 3-3 at the first change of ends, with Suresh holding for a 4-3 lead. Gorzny then called a ball out on the sideline, which Wake head coach Tony Bresky told Suresh to challenge, and when the ball was reviewed and deemed good, he had his crucial mini-break.
"In the heat of the moment I didn't think to challenge, but TB was there to help me out," said Suresh, a junior from India. "I wasn't sure, but Tony was there and that was good by him."
Gorzny held his next serve for 5-4, but a great first serve gave Suresh two match points, and he converted the first, with his net cord volley falling on Gorzny's side of the net, making 3-2 Wake Forest.
Bailly had built a big lead over Robertson in the third, so Texas still had a chance, although Braswell had to win as well. Serving at 2-3 30-15, Braswell got a time violation point penalty, then lost a deciding point to give Xilas the lead, which he stretched to 5-2.
"It was a pretty important point at that moment, because I ended up breaking," Xilas said of the time violation. "But to be completely honest, I felt he was taking a bit more time."
After Bailly closed out Robertson 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1, both teams gathered around court 4, to see if Xilas could serve out the match after Braswell had held for 5-3. Xilas went up 30-0, but a backhand winner from Braswell and forehand error made it 30-all before he stepped up to finish a backhand volley to earn a match point. He missed his first serve, but early in the rally, Braswell sent a forehand long to put Wake Forest, a semifinalist in 2024, into its first Team Indoor final since 2019.
In facing TCU, located 40 minutes from the SMU campus, Bresky is expecting the Wake Forest supporters to be outnumbered in tomorrow night's match.
"We pretty used to that, with some of the road matches we've played," Bresky said. "Our guys on the bench do a great job to keep our guys inspired. I welcome a big crowd, it's great for the guys, it's everything we need. I think you want that atmosphere; it makes it more fun."
Doubles:
1. Stefan Dostanic and DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Lucas Brown and Timo Legout(TEX) 6-3
2. Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow(WAKE) v Pierre-Yves Bailly and Sebastian Gorzny 6-5, unf.
3. Franco Capalbo and Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Jonah Braswell and Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles:
1. Timo Legout(TEX) d. Stefan Dostanic(WAKE) 6-4, 6-2
2. DK Suresh(WAKE) d. Sebastian Gorzny(TEX) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
3. Pierre-Yves Bailly(TEX) d. Charlie Robertson(WAKE) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-1
4. Ioannis Xilas(WAKE) d. Jonah Braswell(TEX) 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3
5. Oliver Ojakaar(TEX) d. Luciano Tacchi(WAKE) 6-1, 7-6(3)
6. Luca Pow(WAKE) d. Sebastian Eriksson(TEX) 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 6, 5, 2, 3, 4
In the nightcap, TCU managed to win an extremely close doubles point from Stanford; after the teams had split 7-5 decisions at lines 1 and 2, the point came down to No. 3, with TCU's Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico taking a 7-6(7) decision after seeing a 5-1 lead in the tiebreaker evaporate.
"That doubles point was so close," said TCU head coach David Roditi, whose team had beaten Stanford on the SMU courts in January in a much closer match than the 7-0 score would suggest. "That was a big doubles point, big momentum."
TCU rode that momentum into singles, taking five first sets, mostly with late breaks to take them 6-4, although Pedrico posted a 6-0 first set at line 6 in his match with freshman Alexander Razeghi.
Stanford made a small push after Pedrico closed out Razeghi 6-0, 6-4 and freshman Cooper Woestendick took out Hudson Rivera 6-4, 6-1 at line 5. But down 3-0 and unable to get a win from Henry Von Der Schulenburg at line 4, with Duncan Chan gaining a split, the challenge was too great. Stanford sophomore Kyle Kang, returning from a wrist injury that had kept him out until this weekend, did force a third set at line 3 against Lui Maxted, and Samir Banerjee had gotten back on serve in the second set against Jack Pinnington Jones at line 1, but Pedro Vives was on the verge of a victory at line 2, and he delivered, beating Max Basing 6-4, 6-3 to reach his fourth consecutive National Indoor Team Championships final.
Roditi, who has led TCU to Indoor titles in 2022 and 2023 and to the final against Ohio State last year, is not entirely sure why his team excels indoors.
"I think (assistant coach) Devin Bowen does a better job than most getting the guys ready from the very beginning," Roditi said. "We start working early and we take this tournament, and the road to the Indoors, very seriously. But we also have good players, and if you have good players, all of a sudden you're a good coach."
Vives, who is 6-0 in singles in dual matches this year, and is the 2024 fall NCAA doubles champion with another four-year Indoor veteran in Maxted, isn't convinced that all the Horned Frogs' experience will have an impact on Tuesday's result.
"I don't think it will be an advantage," said Vives, a 23-year-old from Spain. "It will just be one more match. Maybe if they were to be in a position to clinch--some of us have been in that position, so maybe that could be on of the differences, but they have a very veteran team, I think their average age is like 21, 22, so I think they're mature enough not to have it in their heads that much, but it's going to be great, and I can't wait for it."
Doubles:
1. Lui Maxted and Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Max Basing and Kyle Kang(STAN) 7-5
2. Samir Banerjee and Alexander Razeghi(STAN) d. Jack Pinnington Jones and Cooper Woestendick(TCU) 7-5
3. Duncan Chan and Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Nicholas Godsick and Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) 7-6(7)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. Jack Pinnington Jones(TCU) v Samir Banerjee(STAN) 6-4, 4-5, unf.
2. Pedro Vives(TCU) d. Max Basing(STAN) 6-4, 6-3
3. Lui Maxted(TCU) v Kyle Kang(STAN) 4-6, 6-1, 1-1
4. Duncan Chan(TCU) v Henry Von Der Schulenburg(STAN) 4-6, 6-3, unf.
5. Coppoer Woestendick(TCU) d. Hudson Rivera(STAN) 6-4, 6-1
6. Albert Pedrico(TCU) d. Alexander Razeghi(STAN) 6-0, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 5, 2
The match is scheduled for 6:30 pm central time, with Cracked Racquets providing coverage at their YouTube Channel.
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