Jan. 24, 2016
AUBURN, Ala. - No. 11 Wake Forest was strong in singles and defeated No. 59 Auburn 4-1 in opening round action of the 2016 ITA Kickoff Sunday at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
Auburn took the doubles point in dramatic fashion. After Max Hinnisdales and and Olle Thestrup were 6-3 winners at No. 3, the Tigers' No. 1 tandem of Marko Krickovic and Edward Nguyen forced a tiebreaker at the top spot, and captured that tight battle against the Deacons' Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim 7-6 in the tiebreaker and clinch the doubles point for Auburn.
In singles, Wake Forest picked up wins on courts five, three, four and six to clinch the match. At the top two spots, Auburn was stronger. At No. 1, Hinnisdaels won his first set against Petros Chrysochos 6-2, and after Chrysochos took the second set, Hinnisdaels was ahead 3-1 in the third set when the team match concluded. At No. 2, Krickovic won his first set 6-3 against No. 26 Skander Mansouri and was leading the second set 6-5 when the team match concluded.
"We played well in doubles today, and Marko (Krickovic) and Eddie (Nguyen) closed it out for us in the tiebreaker, which gave us a good start," Auburn head coach Eric Shore said. "Max (Hinnisdaels) and Marko were in control of their singles matches when Wake Forest clinched, and Olle (Thestrup) at six put us in position to win if he could have taken the second-set tiebreaker.
"We had a lot of positives moving forward, and we're looking forward to going back to work tomorrow."
No. 59 Auburn is now 2-1 on the season. No. 11 Wake Forest is now 3-0.
The Tigers will face No. 54 Cal Poly Monday at 10 a.m. CT. Wake Forest will take on No. 43 Tennessee, a 4-2 Sunday winner over Cal Poly, in Monday action. The ITA Kickoff matches were originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday but winter storm Jonas forced the postponement.
Auburn's next home match comes Friday, February 5, vs. No. 64 Troy at 2 p.m. CT. All home matches are played at the Yarbrough Tennis Center (771 Yarbrough Farms Blvd., Auburn) and admission is free.
Wake Forest 4, Auburn 1
Singles
Max Hinnisdaels (AU) vs. Petros Chrysochos (WF) 6-2, 0-6, 3-1 unfinished
Marko Krickovic (AU) vs. Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-3, 6-5 unfinished
Jon Ho (WF) def. Dante Saleh (AU) 6-3, 6-4
Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Conner Huertas del Pino (AU) 6-3, 6-2
Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Brandon Laubser (AU) 6-3, 6-1
Christian Seraphim (WF) def. Olle Thestrup (AU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
Doubles
Marko Krickovic/Edward Nguyen (AU) def. Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) 7-6 (8-6)
Romain Bogaerts/Dennis Upsensky (WF) def. Conner Huertas del Pino/Brandon Laubser (AU) 6-3
Max Hinnisdaels/Olle Thestrup (AU) def. Jon Ho/Petros Chrysochos (WF) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles 2,3,1; Singles 5,3,4,6