Even though they were the defending champions in doubles, the United States team of Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow had to fight a pro-Wake Forest crowd in the semifinals on Friday night.
But the seasoned pros had little trouble dispatching current Demon Deacon duo Luca Pow and DK Suresh winning 6-4, 6-2 in 47 minutes.
Lammons and Withrow will now play for another Winston-Salem Open title on Saturday.
“We had the love in the first two rounds, and that kind of propelled us through,” Withrow said. “It’s a fun environment, and I get testy in some of those moments. But we try and thrive, and I think next week we’ll get the multi-cultural crowd at the U.S. Open.”
Because the Wake Forest pair was making a run for the ages, the doubles semifinals match was the final one of the day, and it came under the lights.
Suresh said it was a great experience, and said it wasn’t hard to see why Lammons and Withrow are the defending champions.
“Even though we were playing at home, they were the defending champions. We had a lot of fans so that was great to see,” Suresh said.
The Demon Deacons duo are the first current players in the program to win matches in the 13-year history of the tournament.
Pow said it was some of the most fun he’s had getting two big wins and then being the featured match on Friday.
“The tournament’s been great but that was tough on the stadium court at night,” Pow said. “It was a little different conditions, and they showed how good they are because they served so well against us.”
Suresh said it was a difficult adjustment playing on the stadium court.
“It was obviously a big match at center court and all of that,” Suresh said. “We tried our best but I’m happy the way played in the whole tournament, and it was a great week for us.”
As for chasing a consecutive championship in the tournament, Withrow likes how he and Lammons are faring at the end of the summer.
“We’ve had a lot of times where we’ve been the underdog this year, so we’re used to it,” Withrow said.
They can become the second pairing to win the doubles in tournament history matching the feat of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau who won doubles in 2017 and ’18.
“Like Nate said in the interview we feel comfortable here and going into this part of the schedule and feeling right at home in North Carolina,” Withrow said. “It’s always fun to be in the final.”
They will take on Julian Cash and Rob Galloway at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the final.
