Virginia Advances to the NCAA Quarterfinals with 4-0 Win Against Duke

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  The Virginia men’s tennis team (27-4) logged a 4-0 victory against Duke (22-7) in the Round of 16 of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championship on Saturday (May 13) at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.

Virginia won the doubles point and took singles courts one, three and six in straight sets. Freshman Måns Dahlberg won the clinching match for the Cavaliers.

The two teams began warm-ups outdoors but went into a lightning delay 30 minutes before the scheduled first serve. After a rainstorm soaked the courts, it was decided to move the match indoors, starting doubles 45 minutes later than originally scheduled. After the Cavaliers clinched the doubles point, it was determined that condensation on the bottom three courts made them too slippery to play on, so only courts 1-3 were available for singles. Eventually, court two also became unplayable, and the decision was made to move the match back outdoors after the courts had been dried.

Singles restarted at 6 p.m., five hours after the original match start time of 1 p.m.

Both Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg won their first sets in tiebreakers while playing indoors. Rodesch took his 7-2 while von der Schulenburg won 7-5. Rodesch was up 3-1 in his second set when play restarted outdoors. He held on to top No. 12 Garrett Johns 6-4 in the second set to give UVA a 2-0 lead.

Von der Schulenburg won his second set 7-5 outdoors against Andrew Zhang on court three to give UVA a 3-0 lead.

The three courts that had not started indoors all won their first sets including Dahlberg who came back from down 3-0 to take his in a tiebreaker, 7-4, against Faris Khan on court six. Dahlberg blanked Khan 6-0 in the second set to clinch the match.

Alex Kiefer was leading 5-2 in his second set on court five against Andrew Dale when the match ended.

“Duke competed extremely well today,” said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso. “They gave us everything they had, and it was a challenge, which is what we thought it was going to be. I am really proud of our guys. We just stay composed with all the changes in surfaces and venues and facilities. Today was about composure, and we’re going to need a lot more of that in Orlando.”

With the victory, Virginia has now advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 16 of the last 18 championships.

5-seed Virginia will face 4-seed Kentucky (27-4) on Thursday, May 18 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. Duke was the 12 seed in the championship.

UVA heads into the quarterfinals on a 19-match win streak. The Cavaliers’ last loss was on the third day of ITA Indoors on Feb. 19 against Ohio State.

With today’s victory against the Blue Devils, Virginia has won 49 straight matches against ACC opponents including conference matches, out-of-conference dual matches and tournament play. UVA’s last loss against an ACC foe was a 4-2 loss to UNC at ITA Indoors on Feb. 13, 2021. 

#5 Virginia 4, #12 Duke 0
Singles competition

1. #9 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #12 Garrett Johns (DU) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
2. #26 Inaki Montes (VA) vs. #52 Pedro Rodenas (DU) 3-6, 7-5, 2-2, unfinished
3. #49 J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Andrew Zhang (DU) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5
4. #87 Ryan Goetz (VA) vs. Connor Krug (DU) 6-3, 5-7, unfinished
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) vs. Andrew Dale (DU) 6-2, 5-2, unfinished
6. Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. Faris Khan (DU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-0

Doubles competition

1. #58 Inaki Montes/William Woodall (VA) def. #25 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) 6-3
2. Chris Rodesch/J vd Schulenburg (VA) vs. #39 Andrew Zhang/Michael Heller (DU) 5-4, unfinished
3. Ryan Goetz/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Faris Khan/Niroop Vallabhaneni (DU) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (1,3,6)
NCAA Round of 16 – Charlottesville Super Regional
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