UNC Tar Heels men’s tennis: NCAA Elite Eight

After their third round win over California, the North Carolina Tar Heels are advancing to the Elite Eight. The Heels will square off against ACC foe Wake Forest today at 4:00 PM in Athens, Georgia.

On Thursday, #9 UNC beat #8 California 4-1. Carolina started the scoring by winning two of three matches in doubles. In a marquee matchup, Will Blumberg and Robert Kelly, the 12th-ranked doubles pair in the nation, defeated the fifth-ranked pair of Florian Lakat and Filip Bergevi. The UNC duo won in a tiebreaker to clinch the doubles point.

Jack Murray secured the second point for UNC in singles, as he beat J.T. Nishimura on Court 5 in straight sets:

Freshman phenom Will Blumberg put the Heels up 3-0 after his defeat of 61st-ranked Andre Goransson:

Cal earned their lone point on the night on Court 6. On Court 1, 22nd-ranked Ronnie Schneider clinched the victory for Carolina by upsetting the 12th-ranked men’s singles player in the nation. Here is the match and series point:

The Tar Heels will face a stiff test in top-ranked Wake Forest today. During the ACC regular season, Wake Forest won their only meeting the Carolina 4-3.

The Demon Deacons have four players ranked in the Men's National Singles Oracle/ITA Division I Collegiate Rankings. Petros Chrysochos is ranked fifth, and will likely face Ronnie Schneider on Court 1. During the regular season matchup, Chrysochos beat Schneider 7-6, 4-6, 6-0.

WFU’s next ranked player is Skander Mansouri, coming in at 13th in the latest rankings. He lost to Will Blumberg during the regular season in straight sets. There will likely be a rematch between the two on Court 2 today.

Borna Gojo is ranked 45th and will likely be on Court 3 for Wake. Gojo defeated Simon Soendergaard in straight sets during the regular season.

The final ranked player for Wake Forest is Christian Seraphim, coming in at 84th. Robert Kelly defeated Seraphim 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 earlier this year.

The Deacs boast the 4th-ranked doubles pair in the nation. Seraphim and Mansouri will likely face Blumberg and Kelly on the first doubles court.

The University of Georgia, as the host site for the men’s and women’s tennis championships, provides live streams of the courts. You can check out the action there.