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There is a new match of the year candidate.

It is no secret that Syracuse tennis has had a less-than-ideal start in conference play this spring. SU lost five of its first six contests against Atlantic Coast Conference foes, much of those matches featuring uncompetitive scorelines.

But none of that mattered Friday. In their seventh ACC matchup of the year, the Orange picked up a much-needed win in Winston-Salem. After a grueling contest that lasted nearly four hours, Syracuse (5-8, 2-5 ACC) narrowly defeated Wake Forest (9-10, 1-6 ACC) 4-3. It was the first time SU won a match after losing the doubles point.

SU played at full strength for the first time in two weeks, with star junior Nelly Knezkova back in the lineup after feeling ill and missing both matches last weekend.

The Orange couldn’t have asked for a better start to doubles play, as they took the first point in each of the three matches. But their good fortune would not last.

Despite jumping out to a 2-0 start, Constance Levivier and Leena Bennetto struggled. Wake Forest’s Krystal Blanch and Aubrey Nisbet won the next six contests, giving the Demon Deacons a cushion for the other two doubles matches.

But Serafima Shastova and Monika Wojcik didn’t suffer the same fate. The duo took a commanding 5-0 lead to start the set. Even after allowing Wake Forest to get back into the match, dropping three games in a row, Shastova and Wojcik closed out the set 6-3.

The doubles point would come down to the No. 1 position. Syracuse kept winning games, but could never take a sizable lead. With the match tied at 5-5, Nevena Carton and Kady Tannenbaum took control and secured the doubles point with a 7-5 set win.

As singles started, the outcome of the match was still very much up in the air. At No. 6, Emma Scaldalai couldn’t continue her success from SU’s matchups against Cal and Stanford last week, falling flat to Sankavi Gownder 6-0, 6-1.

But Scaldalai’s shortcomings were negated by Shastova, who walked away from her match with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 victory.

Anastasia Sysoeva, again playing at the No. 1 position, had another battle. After trailing for most of the set, Sysoeva was able to pull through and take a 6-5 lead in the set. Following a strong serve that wasn’t returned, Carton tied the set at 6-6 before winning the tiebreaker.

That’s all she wrote. Sysoeva couldn’t recover, losing the second set 6-3 and giving Wake Forest an overall 3-1 lead. With Knezkova, Wojcik, and Bennetto all in must-win third sets, each had to dig their heels into the concrete to win the match.

And they surely delivered. Despite not putting up much of a fight in the second set, Knezkova completely flipped the switch in the third, winning 6-1 and providing the Orange with much-needed momentum.

Bennetto was next. After winning the first and losing the second in two evenly matched sets, the third looked to be just as tight, starting out 2-2. However, Bennetto didn’t falter, taking a 6-3 victory and tying the match.

All eyes were on the No. 4 matchup between Heidi Bulger and Wojcik. Bulger took the first set 6-4, but then trailed in a tiebreak in the second. Wojcik stayed steadfast, winning the tiebreak to force a third set.

Wojcik controlled the majority of the final set, taking a 4-1 lead. Bulger would start to come back, but it was in vain. As both teams anxiously watched court four, Wojcik hit a shot down the line and right past the Demon Deacon.

After almost three hours of playing singles, Wojcik won the match — 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 — in a gritty comeback performance. The euphoria of the win set in, and she was immediately surrounded by her teammates.

Published on March 27, 2026 at 9:48 pm
Contact Toph: cemcwill@syr.edu