Rice, Kim Earn First Career Challenger Main Draw Wins

DRUMMONDVILLE, Canada–  Two members of the Virginia men’s tennis team will be competing at the Challenger Banque Nationale de Drummondville, an ATP Challenger 75-level tournament being held Nov. 9-16 at the René-Verrier Indoor Tennis Centre in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada.

Sophomores Keegan Rice and Jangjun Kim both picked up their first career ATP Challenger main draw wins t the tournament.

Kim began competition on Sunday in singles qualifying, while Rice, a native of Regina, Canada, began play in the main draw as a wildcard selection.

Kim defeated the qualifier’s No. 8 seed Trey Hilderbrand 6-1, 6-1 in his opening match. He then picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win against 3-seed Strong Kirchheimer on Monday in the qualifying final to earn a spot in the main draw. It was his first time advancing out of qualifying into a Challenger main draw. He defeated fellow qualifier Taha Baadi in the first round of the main draw, 6-3, 6-3. This is Kim’s second time playing in a Challenger main draw after earning a wildcard to play in the Seoul Challenger in 2022.

Rice faced No. 6 seed Alex Kybakov in his opener, winning a three-set thriller 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Rybakov is ranked No. 268 in the world. Rice will face fellow Canadian Dan Martin in the second round.