Cracked Racquets’ preseason preview continues this week with Wake Forest. As usual, we will cover the squad, schedule, and team outlook, with additional analysis by Alex Araiza and Alex Gruskin.

Coming in at #2 in the 2017 NCAA rankings, Wake Forest boasts an experienced squad under Coach Tony Bresky. Expectations are high for the Demon Deacons, but not everyone at Cracked Racquets is convinced 2018 is their year. Will they retake their #1 ranking or slide down the bracket come May?

Wake Forest Lineup

Bar Botzer FR

Petros Chrysochos JR

Morgan Dill FR

Alan Gadjiev RS SO

Borna Gojo SO

Skander Mansouri SR

Ryan Mueller FR

Charles Parry SO

Sean Patrick SO

Christian Seraphim RS SR

Yuval Solomon FR

Julian Zlobinsky RS JR

Outlook

Wake Forest, the #1 ranked team of the 2016 season, slid back a position after losing to the then #9 North Carolina 4 – 2. That doesn’t take away from an otherwise strong season, which saw the Deacons finishing 30-3. The only 3 matches they lost were on neutral ground, impressively going undefeated at home and away. Ohio State, Virginia, and finally North Carolina were the only three teams to take a W over the Demon Deacons.

For the most part, Wake Forest has retained its talent heading into this season. Losses in Maksim Kan and Dennis Uspensky leave the Deacons with minimal reloading needs. Wake Forest boasts experience in their sophomore – senior heavy squad that will benefit the incoming freshmen as well as junior transfer Julian Zlobinsky who is arriving from the University of Texas.

Wake Forest’s squad has remained active in the offseason. Returning Junior Petros Chrysochos competed in the Oracle ITA Masters in Malibu this past September making it to the semi-finals, ultimately falling to Columbia University’s Victor Pham, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0. Petros had notable wins against Billy Griffith (California) in the quarterfinals and Adam Moundir (Old Dominion) in the round of 16.

More recently at the ITA National Fall Championships, Petros and Skander Mansouri claimed Wake Forest’s second consecutive title defeating Rodrigo Banzer and Leonardo Telles from the University of Texas, 6-2, 6-2.

In the singles draw, Petros lost to Nuno Borges of Mississippi State in the finals, 7-5, 6-3.

Schedule

Wake Forest has been slow to release their schedule. Stay tuned with Cracked Racquets for an update on notable matchups for the 2018 NCAA season.

It is worth noting that Wake Forest will host the 2018 NCAA Tennis Championship. With a home court advantage, perhaps this is the Demon Deacon’s year?

Reader Poll

How will Wake Forest men’s tennis team do this season? This is the 2018 Championship team right here

We’ll see them in the finals, but the home court advantage won’t help in the end

The Demon Deacons will get knocked out before the quarter finals

Wake Forest will not make the tournament

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Cracked Racquets’ Take

Parker Thieneman (Contributor): Where Virginia loses a lot of top players, Wake only loses 1 senior. They’ll have upperclassmen leadership as well as one of the most talented teams in the country. Expect big things.

Dalton Thieneman (Co-founder, CI Host): 2018 will be the Demon Deacons year, folks. It’s as simple as that. Last season, Wake Forest earned the program’s first-ever team No.1 seed in the NCAA Team Championship. Look for Coach Tony Bresky and the Deacs to be nothing short of the top seed again this year. For Leopold’s sake, let’s hope this group stay’s injury-free because they will be very, very fun to watch.

With a veteran loaded squad, including four NCAA individual players returning, Wake Forest will come away as National Champions in 2018. The cherry on top will be junior Petros Chrysochos, last year’s No. 5 seed in the singles draw, taking the singles crown.

Alex Leopold (Co-founder, Contributor): As an alum, I really, really want to go with Dalton’s prediction, but…. I know better. Outside of soccer and field hockey, the Demon Deacons are always going to break your heart. Sure, they’re loaded, experienced and UVA is likely to take a step down this year, but… I don’t know what it is. Wake Forest teams/players always seem to shit the bed when it seems like the stars are aligning. Look no further than Noah Rubin vs Ryan Shane in the NCAAA Championship Final a few years back. Or the Chris Paul – led Deacs in 2005 that lost in the second round to West Virginia and some bozo named Kevin Pittsnoggle.

Alex Araiza (Contributor): You’ve heard it all by now, but this is a highly experienced squad with strong leadership. Expect a deep run at the National Championship this year.

This article is part of the College Tennis Contenders series. Every Tuesday until the start of the college tennis season, Cracked Racquets will be featuring one of the preseason top 10 teams. Like this series? Check out the more like it on the Cracked Series page.