Cards Hit the Road for a Pair of Top-25 ACC Matches

Friday, March 24

Winston-Salem, NC

4:00 PM

University of Louisville

Wake Forest

Davie Mizrahi hits the ball in the match against Kentucky

Photo by: Karthik Kalvakuri | Louisville Athletics

March 23, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Louisville will wrap up a string of four straight road matches this weekend at No. 14 Wake Forest and No. 25 NC State

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville men's tennis team will continue its tough ACC slate this weekend with a pair of road matches at No. 14 Wake Forest and No. 25 NC State. The Cards will take on the Demon Deacons Friday at 4 p.m. and conclude the weekend with a 12 p.m. matchup with the Wolfpack on Sunday.

The Cardinals' lineup feature three nationally-ranked singles players and a top-15 doubles team. Etienne Donnet leads the way at No. 31, moving up five spots while carrying a 19-5 overall record and a 12-2 mark in dual matches. Graduate senior Fabien Salle is slotted at No. 55 with an 19-8 singles record and a 7-4 tally in dual matches. Sophomore Natan Rodrigues rounds out the ranked singles players at No. 76 with a 16-6 overall record, going 5-5 in dual matches.

The tandem Rodrigues and Salle stand at No. 15 in the doubles rankings, vaulting 13 spots from their previous ranking. They have teamed for a 22-6 record and are 6-2 as Louisville's top-seeded team.

Wake Forest
Series Record: Wake Forest leads 15-2
Last Meeting: April 3, 2022 – Wake Forest won 4-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Scouting the Demon Deacons: No. 14 Wake Forest enters the weekend with an 18-6 overall record and a 3-1 mark in ACC play with its only conference loss coming at the hands of Florida State.

The Demon Deacons' lineup features a pair of nationally-ranked singles players in No. 11 Melios Efstathiou and No. 103 Jurabek Karimov while the duo of Juan Lopez De Azcona and Filippo Moroni stands at No. 37 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association doubles rankings.

NC State
Series Record: Tied 6-6
Last Meeting: April 1, 2022 – Louisville won 4-1 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center
Scouting the Wolfpack: No. 25 NC State brings a 10-5 overall record and a 4-0 mark in ACC play into the weekend prior to a Friday matchup against No. 50 Notre Dame. Last week, the Wolfpack lost a 4-3 thriller to No. 3 Texas, snapping a six-match win streak.

NC State has two players who stand among the top 75 in the ITA singles rankings with No. 52 Rafa Iziquierdo Luque and No. 73 Luca Staeheli. The current ACC Doubles Team of the Week, Robin Catry and Luca Staeheli stand at No. 27 while Iziquierdo Luque and Joseph Wayand are slotted at No. 40.

Up Next:
The Cardinals will return to the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center to Friday when they take on Boston College at 12 p.m.