College Tennis News - Michigan Edges Previously Unbeaten Demon Deacons

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team claimed the doubles point and four singles to knock off No. 49 Wake Forest, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 3) at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Michigan secured the doubles point for the fourth time this season, earning victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Senior Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan Prep) and junior Shaun Bernstein (Plainview, N.Y./Old Bethpage JFK HS), ranked 30th in the latest ITA poll, surged past David Hopkins and Amogh Prabhakar at the top spot, 8-4, to improve to a team-best 4-0 in dual-match competition.

King, sophomores Alex Petrone (Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs Pre) and Michael Zhu (Princeton, N.J./Keystone National), and junior Barrett Franks (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys') represented Michigan's singles victories at the No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 positions, respectively.

The Demon Deacons won the first singles match off the court, tying the dual with a straight-sets victory at the No. 5 position. Shortly thereafter, King extended his winning streak to eight matches, posting a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Hopkins at No. 1 to tilt the momentum back in U-M's favor. King is 5-0 in dual-play competition and is 11-3 overall this season.

After Wake Forest knotted up the match with a win at the No. 2 spot, Petrone and Franks earned back-to-back victories in straight sets to seal the Wolverine victory. Petrone defeated 90th-ranked Danny Kreyman, 7-5, 6-4, while Franks clinched the dual with a narrow 7-5, 7-6 (4) decision over Sam Bloom at No. 5. Franks trailed Bloom 4-2 in the second-set tiebreaker before winning five of the final six points to earn the win. The victory marked Franks' second dual-clinching effort of the season.

In the final match on the court, Zhu rallied from a 4-1 third-set deficit to defeat Adam Lee (7-5, 1-6, 7-5).

The Wolverines will hit the road for their next dual-match encounter, heading to Durham, N.C., next Sunday (Feb. 10) to face No. 5-ranked Duke at noon EST.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- Evan King (U-M) d. David Hopkins (Wake Forest), 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 -- No. 59 Amogh Prabhakar (Wake Forest) d. No. 48 Vlad Stefan (U-M), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 -- Alex Petrone (U-M) d. No. 90 Danny Kreyman (Wake Forest), 7-5, 6-4
No. 4 -- Michael Zhu (U-M) d. Jon Ho (Wake Forest), 7-5, 1-6, 7-5
No. 5 -- Adam Lee (Wake Forest) d. Shaun Bernstein (U-M), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 -- Barrett Franks (U-M) d. Sam Bloom (Wake Forest), 7-5, 7-6 (4)

Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 30 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (U-M) d. David Hopkins/Amogh Prabhakar (Wake Forest), 8-3
No. 2 -- Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M) vs. Danny Kreyman/Adam Lee (Wake Forest), 4-7 (unfinished)
No. 3 -- Barrett Franks/Justin Rossi (U-M) d. Anthony Delcore/Morgan Mays (Wake Forest), 8-1

Order of Completion: Doubles: 3-1, Singles: 5-1-2-3-6-4

Media Contact: Zach Eisendrath (734) 763-4423