‘RIGHT THERE’
1/17/2025 10:31:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Woodson sees positive takeaways in Bears’ 4-0 loss to No. 4 Wake Forest
WACO, Texas – As a competitor, Michael Woodson hates to lose. But not all losses are created equal.
Playing their third match in six days, the Baylor Bears (2-1) fell to fourth-ranked Wake Forest, 4-0, Friday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, but were in position to win on the three remaining courts when the match was clinched.
"They've got a ton of experience at the top and middle of their lineup," Woodson said of the Demon Deacons, a Final Four team last year that is off to a 3-0 start. "We know they're every bit as good or better than they were last year, and they were in the semis. For us to be right there, I think, is a good thing. We have some positive takeaways but also some things we need to work on. We'll get back out there and work on it."
The Demon Deacons got the first point on the board by winning tightly contested matchups at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.
Wake's fourth-ranked tandem of Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi defeated the 17th-ranked duo of Devin Badenhorst and Zsombor Velcz, 6-4, at No. 2, and then Baylor's third-ranked Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Mark Miladinovic lost to DK Suresh Ekambaram and USC transfer Stefan Dostanic, 6-3, at No. 1.
"I certainly think we can win any doubles point against any team in the country," Woodson said. "We have a lot of really good doubles players, experienced, highly ranked nationally. But so do they. They have a really good doubles lineup as well. It's going to come down to who plays the big points better. And I thought they were slightly more aggressive than us in pressure situations."
The momentum stayed in Wake's court, with the Demon Deacons winning five of the six first sets in singles and taking three of them by 6-2 scores. Baylor's lone first-set win came from senior Marko Miladinovic at No. 6, who was up 7-5, 4-2, when the match was clinched.
"We definitely didn't have any momentum at the beginning," Woodson said. "When you come out and you play a team like this, they are very confident. There's a lot of experienced guys that have been on this team in the past or have been in college tennis for a long time. They understand carrying the momentum from doubles to singles, and our guys allowed them to have it."
Baylor battled back in the second set, with midyear transfer Alexandru Chirita forcing a third set against Pow at No. 5 and Brostrom Poulsen staying alive at No. 2 by winning a second-set tiebreaker, 8-6, against the seventh-ranked Suresh.
"I think the guys kept their hands in the fire and kept competing, which was a great thing to see," Woodson said. "They didn't get discouraged they didn't allow the first set or the doubles point get to them. They stayed on the court, and they kept fighting."
Ultimately, the Demon Deans were just too tough at the Nos. 1-4 spots. Dostanic beat the 25th-ranked Badenhorst in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, at the top of the lineup, while Tacchi followed suit with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Baylor sophomore Louis Bowden at No. 4.
The clincher came on Court 3, where the 54th-ranked Velcz came up short in a back-and-forth tiebreaker in the first set and getting broken late in the second in falling to No. 115 Ioannis Xilas, 7-6(6), 8-6.
"I think Devin and Oskar and (Zsombor), those guys are going to have to learn, it's really hard at the top against the best teams in the country," Woodson said. "There's going to be some lessons learned there, and just some understanding of just how hard it is up at the top of the lineup against the best teams. I feel really good about what we can put out there in April and May."
When the match was decided, it was all knotted up in the third set at Nos. 2 and 5 and Miladinovic was up a set and a break on Franco Capablo at No. 6, 7-5, 4-2.
Baylor will try to bounce back with another stiff test on Monday against defending national champion and second-ranked TCU (2-0) at 6 p.m. at the Hawkins Indoor, trying to snap a six-match losing streak against the Horned Frogs. TCU remained unbeaten with a 7-0 sweep of 17th-ranked Stanford in Dallas.
Playing their third match in six days, the Baylor Bears (2-1) fell to fourth-ranked Wake Forest, 4-0, Friday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center, but were in position to win on the three remaining courts when the match was clinched.
"They've got a ton of experience at the top and middle of their lineup," Woodson said of the Demon Deacons, a Final Four team last year that is off to a 3-0 start. "We know they're every bit as good or better than they were last year, and they were in the semis. For us to be right there, I think, is a good thing. We have some positive takeaways but also some things we need to work on. We'll get back out there and work on it."
The Demon Deacons got the first point on the board by winning tightly contested matchups at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles.
Wake's fourth-ranked tandem of Luca Pow and Luciano Tacchi defeated the 17th-ranked duo of Devin Badenhorst and Zsombor Velcz, 6-4, at No. 2, and then Baylor's third-ranked Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Mark Miladinovic lost to DK Suresh Ekambaram and USC transfer Stefan Dostanic, 6-3, at No. 1.
"I certainly think we can win any doubles point against any team in the country," Woodson said. "We have a lot of really good doubles players, experienced, highly ranked nationally. But so do they. They have a really good doubles lineup as well. It's going to come down to who plays the big points better. And I thought they were slightly more aggressive than us in pressure situations."
The momentum stayed in Wake's court, with the Demon Deacons winning five of the six first sets in singles and taking three of them by 6-2 scores. Baylor's lone first-set win came from senior Marko Miladinovic at No. 6, who was up 7-5, 4-2, when the match was clinched.
"We definitely didn't have any momentum at the beginning," Woodson said. "When you come out and you play a team like this, they are very confident. There's a lot of experienced guys that have been on this team in the past or have been in college tennis for a long time. They understand carrying the momentum from doubles to singles, and our guys allowed them to have it."
Baylor battled back in the second set, with midyear transfer Alexandru Chirita forcing a third set against Pow at No. 5 and Brostrom Poulsen staying alive at No. 2 by winning a second-set tiebreaker, 8-6, against the seventh-ranked Suresh.
"I think the guys kept their hands in the fire and kept competing, which was a great thing to see," Woodson said. "They didn't get discouraged they didn't allow the first set or the doubles point get to them. They stayed on the court, and they kept fighting."
Ultimately, the Demon Deans were just too tough at the Nos. 1-4 spots. Dostanic beat the 25th-ranked Badenhorst in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, at the top of the lineup, while Tacchi followed suit with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Baylor sophomore Louis Bowden at No. 4.
The clincher came on Court 3, where the 54th-ranked Velcz came up short in a back-and-forth tiebreaker in the first set and getting broken late in the second in falling to No. 115 Ioannis Xilas, 7-6(6), 8-6.
"I think Devin and Oskar and (Zsombor), those guys are going to have to learn, it's really hard at the top against the best teams in the country," Woodson said. "There's going to be some lessons learned there, and just some understanding of just how hard it is up at the top of the lineup against the best teams. I feel really good about what we can put out there in April and May."
When the match was decided, it was all knotted up in the third set at Nos. 2 and 5 and Miladinovic was up a set and a break on Franco Capablo at No. 6, 7-5, 4-2.
Baylor will try to bounce back with another stiff test on Monday against defending national champion and second-ranked TCU (2-0) at 6 p.m. at the Hawkins Indoor, trying to snap a six-match losing streak against the Horned Frogs. TCU remained unbeaten with a 7-0 sweep of 17th-ranked Stanford in Dallas.
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