Virginia Rallies to Defeat Arizona 4-2 to Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s tennis team picked up a 4-2 win over the 10-seed Arizona (26-5) on Saturday (May 10) in the Round of 16 of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.

In the first ever meeting between the two teams, sophomore Dylan Dietrich won the last five games of his match on court two to defeat No. 6 Jay Friend and clinch the victory for the Cavaliers (23-7).

With the win, Virginia advances to the finals site, Baylor’s Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, where they will face the 2-seed TCU (25-3) in a quarterfinal match on Friday, May 16.

Dietrich and junior Mans Dahlberg started the match with a 6-3 win over Friend and Eric Padgham on the top doubles court. Freshmen Rafael Jódar and Roy Horovitz saved two break points when serving for the match to come away with a 6-4 victory on doubles court three, clinching the doubles point for Virginia.

Freshman Keegan Rice put UVA up 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 103 Zoran Ludoski on court three.

On court four, graduate student James Hopper broke to take the opening set 6-4 against Alexander Rozin. In the second set, Rozin served for the set up 5-4, but Hopper broke to stay in it. Hopper held serve the next game to take a 6-5 lead before breaking Rozin in the following game to finish the match, extending the Cavalier lead to 3-0.

On the top singles court, Jódar dropped the first set to No. 5 Colton Smith 6-3 but saved a match point to tie the second set at 5-5. In the second set tiebreak, Jódar saved two more match points after trailing 3-0, but Smith came through on his fourth match point to pick up a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win to get Arizona on the board.

The Wildcats cut into the deficit with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 victory on court five. Freshman Jangjun Kim saved three set points to take the first set, but Filip Gustafsson cruised in the second to even the match. In the decider, Kim saved two match points down 5-4 to break serve before Gustafsson broke right back, taking the final two games of the match.

The match came down to courts two and six. Dietrich and Dahlberg both dropped their opening sets, but both rallied to force deciding sets. On court two, Dietrich fell behind an early break in the final set to No. 6 Jay Friend. Trailing 5-2 in the decider, Dietrich held serve to stay in the match before breaking Friend to get back on serve. He evened the set at 5-5 in the following game and then broke Friend to take a 6-5 lead. Dietrich served out the match right after, winning the last five games of the match to top Friend 1-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5 and send the Cavaliers to the quarterfinals.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO

“We knew Arizona was going to come out and fight like that, and they’ve got a great culture. They’re a really close team, and we knew that it was going to be a war. So, I want to congratulate the Wildcats for an amazing season, and all their seniors for incredible careers at Arizona. Their coaches do a phenomenal job. I have a lot of respect for their program, especially after playing them for the first time. So that’s a program that’s going to keep getting better and keep knocking on the door of big accomplishments. So, congratulations to Arizona for a great season.”

MATCH NOTES

• Virginia is the No. 7 seed in the championship and the No. 4 ranked team in the ITA Team Rankings
• This was the first ever meeting between Virginia and Arizona
• The Wildcats were the No. 10 seed and ranked No. 10 in the ITA Team Rankings
• UVA ended Arizona’s 11-match win streak
• The Cavaliers advance to the quarterfinals for the 18th time in the last 20 championships
• Dylan Dietrich improves to 23-8 this season in singles and 17-5 in dual matches
• Dietrich’s win over No. 6 Jay Friend is his second top 10 ranked singles win of the season
• Keegan Rice picked up his third ranked singles victory of the season
• Roy Horovitz and Rafael Jódar stayed undefeated this season as a doubles team, improving to 5-0
• TCU leads the all-time series with UVA 6-3. The Horned Frogs have won the last two matchups, including the most recent meeting in 2022
• The Horned Frogs are ranked No. 2 in the ITA Team Rankings and are the No. 2 seed

#4 Virginia 4, #10 Arizona 2
Singles competition

1. #5 Colton Smith (ARIZ) def. #4 Rafael Jodar (VA) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
2. #32 Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. #6 Jay Friend (ARIZ) 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5
3. Keegan Rice (VA) def. #103 Zoran Ludoski (ARIZ) 6-4, 6-2
4. James Hopper (VA) def. Alexander Rozin (ARIZ) 6-4, 7-5
5. Filip Gustafsson (ARIZ) def. Jangjun Kim (VA) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
6. Mans Dahlberg (VA) vs. Casper Christensen (ARIZ) 3-6, 6-4, 5-3, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. #31 Mans Dahlberg/Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. Jay Friend/Eric Padgham (ARIZ) 6-3
2. #23 Keegan Rice/James Hopper (VA) vs. Casper Christensen/Filip Gustafsson (ARIZ) 5-4, unfinished
3. Rafael Jodar/Roy Horovitz (VA) def. Colton Smith/Alexander Rozin (ARIZ) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,4,1,5,2)
T-3:13 A-677