WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – For the second year in a row, the Wake Forest men’s tennis team is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tennis Championship.
Wake Junior Petros Chrysochos said although they are in a good position for the postseason, it's never easy against top competition in the country.
"It's actually a tough transition going from the regular season playing two to three matches a week, from playing five to six competitive matches per day," Chrysochos said. "It's a different kind of preparation for the team."
After earning the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed in 2017, the Deacs repeated the feat this year behind a 25-2 record and trio of titles.
But the team also fell short in both the quarterfinals and round of 16 in 2017, and are changing the way they approach the game this year.
"We will make sure we take it match by match and focus on the first round," Chrysochos said. "And if we win that, focus on the second round and move on like that."
Senior Skander Mansouri is no stranger to the postseason, labeled as one of the best players on the team (also the winningest player in Wake Forest history). But one mistake can lead to a quick exit.
"There is a lot of disappointment, because at the end of the day there is just one team winning the tournament and there are many teams playing," Mansouri said. "So you can't be that team winning every time, and we know how painful it is to lose. It just gives you more motivation for the next time, and become stronger."
Wake Forest won the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, were co-champs of the ACC regular season title and won its second ACC Championship in three years this past Sunday with a 4-0 sweep of No. 6 North Carolina.
Despite all of the accolades, head coach Tony Bresky is looking to earn the biggest one of all; a national title. And he said he feels he has the right group of men to get the job done.
"They're just a very mature driven group of guys," Bresky said. "They understand the process, understand what we are trying to accomplish, don't look too far ahead and just are always looking to get better and better each day."
As a top-16 seed, Wake Forest, making its 18th NCAA Championship appearance, will serve as a regional host for the first and second rounds of tournament play. Joining the Deacs for the Winston-Salem Regional are South Carolina, the No. 2 seed in the regional, Old Dominion (No. 3) and Navy (No. 4).
South Carolina and Old Dominion will meet in the regional’s first match at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 12, before Wake Forest and Navy play at 2 p.m. The winners of Saturday’s matches will then meet on Sunday, May 12, at 2 p.m. for the right to advance to the Round of 16.
The 16 teams advancing out of regional play will all come to Winston-Salem, as Wake Forest University is serving as the finals host for the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships for the first time in school history. The team portion of the event will run May 17-22 followed by the singles and doubles championships (May 23-28).
South Carolina enters the tournament at 18-8 overall after finishing 7-5 in SEC play and making an appearance in the second round of the SEC Tournament. Ranked 28th in the most recent ITA team rankings (April 24), the Gamecocks are led by Gabriel Friedrich, who is ranked 36th nationally. Old Dominion were the champions of the C-USA Tournament and enter with a 19-6 record. Wake Forest and Old Dominion met on Jan. 26 in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend, with Wake Forest claiming a 4-0 victory. Navy, the champions of the Patriot League Tournament, is 28-10 on the year. The Midshipmen enter tournament play on a 10-match winning streak.