Rafa Jodar Wins Charlottesville Challenger Singles Title
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia sophomore Rafael Jódar won the singles title on Sunday (Nov. 2) at the Jonathan Fried Charlottesville ATP Pro Challenger at the Sports Club at the Boar’s Head Resort.
Playing in front of a packed house filled with Cavalier tennis fans his UVA teammates, Jódar topped No. 191 Martin Damm 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the final to win his third ATP Challenger title of the year.
“First off, congratulations to Martin Damm for how well he played this week,” Jódar said. “I want to thank the tournament staff, the Boar’s Head, the ball kids and everyone who made this tournament possible. It was a good week for me, the best week possible. I love how everyone came for the whole week. So happy to be playing at home and so grateful. I want to thank Andres (Pedroso), Treat (Huey) and of course Brian (Rasmussen), who couldn’t come today, for helping me. The whole year was an amazing year. I want to thank my teammates for coming out for every match and cheering for me. I am super grateful to be part of this team and I couldn’t ask for much more. This has been one of the best years of my life. Thank you (fans) very much for supporting me the whole year. See you in January!”
This was the second meeting in three weeks between Jódar, the No. 7 seed in the tournament, and Damm, the No. 6 seed. The two played in the final of the Lincoln Challenger on Oct. 19 with Jódar winning 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3.
Jódar started the week at No. 207 in the ATP World Rankings. He will move into the top 200 when rankings are updated on Monday. He is 39-12 in Challenger and ITF WTT matches this year.
Jódar defeated UVA teammate Dylan Dietrich on Friday (Oct. 31) in the quarterfinals to advance to his eighth Challenger semifinal of the year. He defeated No. 212 Johannus Monday 6-4, 4-2 (ret.) in the semifinals to advance to his third final of the year. Monday was the 8-seed.
Dietrich picked up the biggest win of his career, topping World No. 203 Jay Clarke 7-6 (6), 6-1 in the Round of 16. Dietrich served up 16 aces in the match to eliminate the tournament’s No. 4 seed. With the victory, Dietrich advanced to the quarterfinal round of a Challenger-level tournament for the first time in his career.
Jódar cruised through a 6-4, 6-0 win against Saba Purtseladze in a match that lasted just 72 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP Tour and ahead of the ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments. The ATP Challenger Tour is administered by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Lincoln is a 75-level ATP Challenger tournament.
Alums Iñaki Montes and Thai-Son Kwaitkowski also competed in the singles main draw. Montes battled through a three-hour, thirty-five minute match against Oliver Tarvet on Wednesday in the Round of 16, being edged 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Kwaitkowski dropped his opener.
Montes also played in the doubles main draw with fellow Cavalier alumni James Hopper. They were edged by the tournament’s No. 2 seed in the draw in their opening match.
Sophomores Keegan Rice and Jangjun Kim competed on Sunday (Oct. 26) in the singles qualifying tournament. Rice faced the top seed in the qualifying tournament, falling 6-3, 7-5. Kim was edged 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Results
Singles Main Draw
R32 #207 [7] Rafael Jodar (VA) def. #239 Murphy Cassone 6-4, 7-5
R16 #207 [7] Rafael Jodar (VA) def. #299 Saba Purtseladze 6-4, 6-0
QF #207 [7] Rafael Jodar (VA) def. Dylan Dietrich (VA) 7-5, 6-3
SF #207 [7] Rafael Jodar def. #212 [8] Johannus Monday 6-4, 4-2 (ret.)
F #207 [7] Rafael Jodar def. #191 [6] Martin Damm 6-3, 7-6 (2)
R32 Dylan Dietrich (VA) def #260 Alfredo Perez 6-3, 6-4
R16 Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. #203 Jay Clarke 7-6 (6), 6-1
QF #207 [7] Rafael Jodar (VA) def. Dylan Dietrich (VA) 7-5, 6-3
R32 #345 Iñaki Montes (VA) def. #350 Andre Ilagan 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-4
R16 #369 Oliver Tarvet def #345 Iñaki Montes (VA) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
R32 #243 Patrick Zahraj def. Thai-Son Kwaitkowski (VA) 7-5, 6-3
Doubles Main Draw
R16 [2] Anirudh Chandrasekar/Reese Stadler def. Iñaki Montes/James Hopper 6-4, 7-5
Singles Qualifying
Q1 #375 [1] Samir Banerjee def. Keegan Rice (VA) 6-3, 7-5
Q1 #547 Erik Arutiunian def. Jangjun Kim (VA) 6-4, 7-6 (5)