Virginia Adds Three Impact Players for 2020

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia director of tennis and head men’s tennis coach Andres Pedroso announced that Iñaki Montes de la Torre (Pamplona, Spain), Chris Rodesch (Angelsberg, Luxembourg), and Alexander Kiefer (The Woodlands, Texas) will be joining the Cavaliers for the 2020-21 season.

“Our program could not be more excited about welcoming Iñaki, Chris and Alex to the University of Virginia,” Pedroso said.  “This is a class of young men who value the best of both worlds’ experience that our University has to offer, when it comes to both academics and athletics.  All three have high aspirations to develop into world-class professionals on the ATP Tour and we look forward to providing them with every resource available so that they achieve their goals.”

Montes de la Torre is the 2019 Spanish Junior National Champion and is currently ranked No. 60 in the Spanish Men’s National Rankings. He exploded onto the international juniors scene in 2019, amassing a 28-4 mark in singles. He has won three international junior singles titles, hoisting the trophy at the Sanchez-Casal Junior Cup, the XXV International Junior de Leiria in Portugal and the ITF Junior Tennis Club de Kelibia in Tunisia, as well as two other semifinal finishes.  Montes de la Torre will be competing in December at the Eddie Herr International Junior Championships and the Orange Bowl International Juniors Championships in South Florida.

Rodesch is a member of the Luxembourg Davis Cup team and has a career-high ITF junior world singles ranking of No. 57.  Since 2018, this highly touted recruit has competed all over Europe on the ITF world junior tour, where he has won three international singles titles at the ALK Open in Finland, Justin Henin Junior Cup in Belgium and Talkea Open in Luxembourg, as well as three singles finalist appearances.  Rodesch will be competing on the ITF Pro Circuit until joining the Cavaliers next fall.

A Blue Chip recruit who trains in Boca Raton, Florida, Kiefer is rated as the No. 19 overall recruit in the nation. In 2018, he reached the semifinals of the Boys 16s National Hard Court Championships in Kalamazoo, MI.  This year, he followed-up a semifinal showing at the U18 Canada World Ranking tournament in Montreal by winning the international singles title the next week at the Cancún Junior Cup in October. Kiefer also made the semifinals of the SEB Outdoor Open in Varnamo, Sweden this past summer and has amassed a 70-49 career singles record on the ITF junior world tour.  His upcoming schedule includes playing at the Eddie Herr International Junior Championship and the Orange Bowl in December.