Syracuse Eliminated From ACC Women’s Tennis Championship

The Syracuse University women’s tennis season concluded on April 15, 2026, following a 4-1 defeat against #63 Wake Forest. The match, held at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C., resulted in the elimination of the Orange from the ACC Women’s Tennis Championship.

Wake Forest secured the victory by leveraging a strong performance in both doubles and singles play. The Demon Deacons entered the match seeking a reversal of their regular season result from March, when Syracuse had defeated them.

Doubles Competition

Wake Forest established an early lead by winning the doubles point. The match began with Krystal Blanch and Aubrey Nisbet earning a 6-3 victory over Syracuse’s Leena Bennetto and Constance Levivier at the No. 3 doubles position.

The lead was extended on court two, where Evie Oxford and Sankavi Gownder defeated Serafima Shastova and Monika Wojcik with a score of 6-4. The match on court one, featuring Wake Forest’s Nevena Carton and Kady Tannenbaum against Syracuse’s Anastasia Sysoeva and Nelly Knezkova, remained unfinished with the score tied at 5-5.

Singles Results

Syracuse managed to level the overall contest at 1-1 during the singles session. Serafima Shastova claimed the first singles point for the Orange after Krystal Blanch retired during the second set of their match.

Wake Forest regained the lead through Sankavi Gownder, who defeated Leena Bennetto 6-3, 6-2. This victory marked Gownder’s 16th singles match win of the season and her 13th win achieved in straight sets.

Nevena Carton, who is ranked 104th nationally, contributed a third point for the Demon Deacons by defeating Syracuse’s No. 1 singles player, Anastasia Sysoeva, with a 6-2, 6-2 score. Carton has recorded five wins in her last seven completed singles matches.

The winning point for Wake Forest was secured by Kady Tannenbaum, who defeated Emma Scaldalai 7-5, 6-2. A final match between Nelly Knezkova and Evie Oxford went unfinished, though Knezkova had won the first set.

Match Summary and Standings

The final order of finish for the match was as follows:

• Doubles 3: Blanch/Nisbet (Wake Forest) def. Bennetto/Levivier (Syracuse) 6-3
• Doubles 2: Oxford/Gownder (Wake Forest) def. Shastova/Wojcik (Syracuse) 6-4
• Doubles 1: Carton/Tannenbaum vs. Knezkova/Sysoeva (Unfinished 5-5)
• Singles 1: Carton (Wake Forest) def. Sysoeva (Syracuse) 6-2, 6-2
• Singles 2: Tannenbaum (Wake Forest) def. Scaldalai (Syracuse) 7-5, 6-2
• Singles 3: Shastova (Syracuse) def. Blanch (Wake Forest) (Blanch retired in second set)
• Singles 4: Gownder (Wake Forest) def. Bennetto (Syracuse) 6-3, 6-2
• Singles 5: Knezkova (Syracuse) vs. Oxford (Wake Forest) (Unfinished)

Following the victory over the 13th-seeded Syracuse team, Wake Forest advanced to the third round of the ACC Tennis Championships. The Demon Deacons are scheduled to play Miami on April 16, 2026, at 3:30 p.m., with a position in the quarterfinals at stake.