Virginia Downs Duke 4-1 to Advance to ACC Championship

CARY, N.C.– The No. 2 Virginia men’s tennis team (22-4) logged a 4-1 victory against Duke (18-9) in the semifinals of the 2024 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship on Saturday (April 20) at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.

Duke won the doubles point, but the Cavaliers took four singles matches to advance to Sunday’s final. For the second straight day, senior Chris Rodesch won the clinching point.

The top-seeded Cavaliers will take on 6-seed Florida State (20-7) on Sunday, April 21 at 10 a.m. in the championship match. It will be streamed live on ACCNX.

Virginia opened the semifinals with a 6-3 win on doubles court two, but Duke took courts one and three, 6-3 and 6-4, to take the doubles point.

Freshman Dylan Dietrich evened the score with a 6-2, 6-3 win on singles court four. Senior Alexander Kiefer quicky followed with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on five to put UVA up 2-1.

Senior Iñaki Montes won his first set 6-1 against Pedro Rodenas on court two. The two battled in a close second set with Montes serving for the match up 5-4. The two battled to deuce with Montes taking the point to put UVA up 3-1.

Rodesch had dropped his first set 6-4 against No. 22 Garrett Johns but took the second 6-2 to force a third set. Rodesch took an early 3-0 lead in the third set. Both players held serve through the remainder with Rodesch serving for a 6-3 win to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO

“They fought till the end like they’ve done for a really, really long time. That’s what I expect from these guys. That’s why I’m so blessed to be their coach because I just know what I’m gonna get from these guys every time they step on the court. These guys just competed. They competed and they never gave up. Duke played great. A lot of credit to them. They pushed us and we just stayed the course.”

“We have a lot of experience on this team. These guys have been through everything you can go through in a in a college dual match, so nothing really surprises them. We talk a lot about just hanging in there, whether it’s on the court or off the court, and how important composure is. These guys have bought in and they’ve gotten better and better with each year. And our young guys are also doing a great job.”

MATCH NOTES

• Virginia is No. 2 in the ITA rankings. Duke is No. 12. Florida State is No. 17
• Duke was the No. 4 seed in the tournament
• Virginia is looking for its fourth straight ACC title and its 16th overall
• Virginia won the title last season, besting Duke 4-1
• This was the third meeting of the year between the Blue Devils and Cavaliers. UVA won 4-1 at ITA Indoors and 6-1 during the regular season
• Virginia won the regular season meeting against Florida State 4-1 in Tallahassee
• UVA has won 62 consecutive matches against ACC opponents including post-season, ITA Kickoff Weekend, ITA Indoors and non-conference meetings. Their last loss against an ACC foe was a 4-2 loss against North Carolina on Feb. 13, 2021 at ITA Indoors
• Virginia has not lost an outdoor match since falling in the Round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Championship

#2 Virginia 4, #12 Duke 1
Singles competition

1. #4 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #22 Garrett Johns (DU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. #36 Inaki Montes (VA) def. #43 Pedro Rodenas (DU) 6-1, 6-4
3. #51 J vd Schulenburg (VA) vs. Andrew Zhang (DU) 7-5, 2-6, 3-2, unfinished
4. #45 Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. Connor Krug (DU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Alexander Visser (DU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Mans Dahlberg (VA) vs. Faris Khan (DU) 5-7, 5-5, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. #1 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. #12 Inaki Montes/James Hopper (VA) 6-3
2. #62 Chris Rodesch/J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. #70 Andrew Zhang/Michael Heller (DU) 6-3
3. Faris Khan/Teddy Truwit (DU) def. Alexander Kiefer/Dylan Dietrich (VA) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,5,2,1)