No. 25 Stanford stuns No. 3 Wake Forest, edges out No. 23 NC State

Down 5-2 in his third set, Stanford freshman Jagger Leach needed to win three-straight games on Friday night just to keep his match alive against Wake Forest’s Joaquin Guilleme.

By the time Leach reached 5-5, every other match had finished. With No. 25 Stanford men’s tennis (15-7, 8-4 ACC) tied 3-3 with No. 3 Wake Forest (26-3, 11-1 ACC), all eyes turned to the deciding match on court six, where Leach had the chance to pull off the season’s biggest upset.

For Wake Forest, Friday night was like any other night, having blown past conference opponents all season. For Stanford, it was a chance for redemption after last year’s NCAA semifinal loss to the Demon Deacons – and to deliver a statement win on opening day of the new Arrillaga Tennis Center in front of a raucous crowd.  

Both Leach and Guilleme held serve to force a tiebreaker at 6-6, but Leach surged ahead 7-4 in the final game to clinch the upset. Teammates and coaches all rushed the court to celebrate the heroic performance. 

“The most courageous, boldest, bravest effort I’ve ever seen,” Stanford head coach Paul Goldstein told Rivals.

Ending the night 4-3, the Deacs lost in conference play for the first time in two years.

Stanford had initially trailed 3-0 in the match, dropping the tightly contested doubles point and suffering quick losses on courts one and three. However, consecutive wins from sophomore Alex Razeghi, graduate student Alex Chang and junior Hudson Rivera swung the momentum back to the Cardinal and set the stage for Leach. 

Razeghi won in straight sets (7-6 (5), 7-6 (2)) while Chang (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) and Rivera (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) both fought through three sets. 

The match was the Cardinal’s first time playing in the Arrillaga Tennis Center, the new home for both the men’s and women’s tennis programs. The two-story facility opened Friday after two years of construction. It replaces the old Taube Tennis Center and offers full viewing of 12 courts, with a seating capacity of 1,005. Last season, the Arrillaga Tennis Center-Taube Pavillion across the street served as the interim venue for the two teams.  

Stanford returned to the Arrillaga Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon to take on No. 23 NC State (16-5, 8-4 ACC). Leach, on court five, once again played in a tightly contested match that would help break the 3-3 tie between the two teams. This time, however, he held the lead throughout the third set to seal the win, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (6), 6-4.

Razeghi and Rivera both won in straight sets, with Razeghi topping the No. 21 player in the division, Martin Borisiouk, on court one for the highest ranked win of his career.

Stanford men’s tennis will face its rivals Cal (14-10, 6-5 ACC) on Saturday, April 11 for its final match before the ACC Championships. Last season, the Cardinal won the conference championship with an upset over then-No. 6 Virginia. 

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