WINSTON-SALEM – A week after winning the first team national championship in school history, the Wake Forest tennis program earned its first individual title.
And it was guaranteed of of winning it before the final match began Monday.
For only the fourth time in NCAA history and the first time since 1998, teammates from the same school were matched against one another in the men’s singles final. Junior Petros Chrysochos won the battle between the Deacons and the national title by defeating teammate Borna Gojo, 6-3, 6-3.
“You saw at the end I didn’t celebrate,” said Chrysochos. “I didn’t need to because the biggest accomplishment was walking on that court with my teammate, my friend. I didn’t care which one of us won. It was a team effort that got us both there. Most of the time, when you make it to a final, it is an individual accomplishment, but I felt like Borna helped me get to this point. It was a huge advantage to play this tournament at home and we made the best of it.”
Chrysochos and Gojo were just the second and third players in program history to reach the finals of the singles championship, joining 2015 national runnerup Noah Rubin.
Chrysochos took an early advantage against his fellow Deacon, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. It would be a lead the native of Larnaca, Cyprus would not relinquish en route to a 6-3 victory in the opening set.
Midway through the second set, Chrysochos broke Gojo before picking a second break later in the match. The junior served out the 6-3 second-set victory before the two embraced at the net.
Chrysochos ends his season with a 44-4 record in singles, including a 33-1 record since the spring season began. He finished on a 30-match winning streak and now has 104 career singles victories, tied for seventh-most in program history.
