Virginia Men's Tennis Signs Three Recruits
Nov. 15, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia director of tennis and head men’s tennis coach Andres Pedroso announced on Wednesday (Nov. 15) the signing of three recruits to National Letters of Intent.
Gianni Ross (Orlando, Fla.) will be joining the program in January of 2018 while Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, N.Y.) and William Woodall (Washington, D.C.) will both enroll as first years in the fall of 2018.
“The addition of Gianni, Ryan and William to our program represents one of the best recruiting classes in college tennis this year,” Pedroso said. “All three young men have consistently competed and won on the most important stages of global junior tennis and they are coming to the University of Virginia ready to embrace the `best of both worlds’ opportunity that our University and tennis program provide our student-athletes. I am so proud to announce them as future members of our team and the entire program could not be more excited to see them represent and compete in the orange and blue.”
Ross, a blue-chip recruit, was ranked as the No. 2 recruit in the 2017 class and reached a career-high junior world ranking of 13 in March of this year. He played at the 2017 Junior French Open, Junior Wimbledon and Junior US Open, advancing to the quarterfinals in singles and semifinals in doubles at Roland Garros. Ross also competed at the US Open Junior Championships in 2014-16 and played doubles in the finals of the 2014 Junior Davis Cup for Team USA in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. In 2017, he has advanced through qualifying to earn a spot in the singles main draw of five Futures tournaments, including advancing to the semifinals at the Eagle Landing Tennis Classic Futures tournament in Orange Park, Fla., in April.
Goetz, a blue-chip recruit training and studying at Saddlebrook Academy in Tampa, Fla., is rated the No. 10 recruit in the country by Tennis Recruiting.net and the top-ranked player from the state of New York. He was the runner-up at this year’s USTA 18s Clay Court Nationals, semi-finalist at the USTA 18s Hard Court Nationals and competed in the 2017 US Open Junior Championships in both singles and doubles, advancing to the Round of 16 in doubles. He also won the doubles draw at this year’s Allianz Kundler German Juniors in Berlin. In 2015, he was the Boys 16s singles winner of the prestigious Eddie Herr International Championships at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla.
Woodall, one of the top recruits in the Mid-Atlantic region, trains at the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park, Md., and has been ranked as high as No. 31 in the national recruiting rankings. Woodall won the USTA Boys 14s National Singles Championship in San Antonio in 2014. Over the past year, William has experienced great success in both singles and doubles on the ITF international junior tour. In November 2016, William reached the doubles final of the Yucatan Cup, a top tier international event in Merida, Mexico. This past summer and fall, he reached the quarterfinals in singles of the ITF International Grasscourts in Philadelphia, Round of 16 in singles and semifinals of doubles at the ITF Prince George International Championships in College Park, Md. and he advanced to the Round of 16 in singles and final of doubles of the Pan American ITF Championships in Tulsa, Ok.
For the remainder of this year, Ross will be competing on the USTA Pro Circuit at events in Pensacola, Waco and Tallahasee, while Goetz and Woodall will be competing at the Boys 18s Eddier Herr and Orange Bowl International Championships in Florida.