WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 22 California men's tennis team faced its second ACC opponent on its North Carolina road trip Sunday, with the Golden Bears battling unbeaten and top-ranked Wake Forest. In their toughest test of the season so far, the Golden Bears fell to the Demon Deacons 4-1 at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
 
Cal's record stands at 7-2 (0-2 ACC), including a loss at No. 10 NC State on Friday. Wake is 18-0 (2-0).
 
The battle for the doubles point was competitive. Playing on court one, Cal's top pair of 25th-ranked Carl Emil Overbeck and Theo Dean fell to DK Suresh Ekambaram and Charlie Robertson 6-3. Next the first-time Cal pair of senior Mikey Wright and freshman Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski bested 75th-ranked Ioannis Xilas and Franco Capalbo 6-4 on court three, leaving court two to decide the point. In their first doubles match together this season, Cal's Alex Chang and Derrick Chen pushed the nation's third-ranked pair – Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow – on court two, but the Demon Deacons prevailed 7-5 to capture the point.
 
Singles featured a top-10 clash on court one, with fifth-ranked Overbeck playing ninth-ranked Suresh Ekambaram. The Bear fell 6-3, 6-4. A subsequent 6-2, 6-4 loss by 83rd-ranked Chen to Wake's Pow on court five left Cal trailing 3-0.
 
Cal's Dean, ranked 32nd, triumphed over Tacchi 6-4, 7-6(3) on court three to make the score 3-1.
 
But the match ended when Chang, ranked 70th, dropped a 7-6(1), 6-2 result to 56th-ranked Xilas on court two.
 
Cal starts a four-match homestand against 43rd-ranked Florida State on Friday and hosts 23rd-ranked Miami next Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

No. 1 Wake Forest (18-0, 2-0 ACC) defeated No. 22 California (7-2, 0-2 ACC), 4-1
March 2, 2025, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest Tennis Center
 
Doubles
1. DK Suresh Ekambaram/Charlie Robertson (Wake) def. No. 25 Theo Dean/Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal), 6-3
2. No. 3 Luciano Tacchi/Luca Pow (Wake) def. Alex Chang/Derrick Chen (Cal), 7-5*
3. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski/Mikey Wright (Cal) def. No. 75 Franco Capalbo/Ioannis Xilas (Wake), 6-4
 
Order of Finish – 1, 3, 2*
*Clinched the doubles point for Wake Forest
 
Singles
1. No. 9 DK Suresh Ekambaram (Wake) def. No. 5 Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal), 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 56 Ioannis Xilas (Wake) def. No. 70 Alex Chang (Cal), 7-6(1), 6-2^
3. No. 32 Theo Dean (Cal) def. Luciano Tacchi (Wake), 6-4, 7-6(3)
4. Charlie Robertson (Wake) vs. Timofey Stepanov (Cal), 6-4, 5-6 Unfinished
5. Luca Pow (Wake) def. No. 83 Derrick Chen (Cal), 6-2, 6-4
6. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski (Cal) vs. Franco Capalbo (Wake), 6-4, 2-6, 0-1 Unfinished
 
Order of Finish – 1, 5, 3, 2^
^Clinched the overall win for Wake Forest
 
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