CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 8 Virginia men’s tennis team (9-4, 1-0 ACC) opened ACC play with a 4-3 win against No. 3 Wake Forest (10-4, 0-1 ACC) on Friday (March 1) at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
Wake Forest took the doubles point and held a 2-0 lead in the match, but the Cavaliers won three straight singles courts to take a 3-2 lead. The Demon Deacons tied it up 3-3 before freshman Dylan Dietrich clinched the victory for the Cavaliers.
The match started on the outdoor courts, but was moved indoors late in the first singles sets after a thirty minute rain delay.
Virginia opened doubles strong, with seniors Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg winning 6-1 on court two. The other two matches were tight. On court three, Wake Forest picked up a late break to win 7-5 and even the point. On court one, grad students James Hopper and Edoardo Graziani jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but the No. 3 ranked team of DK Surech and Holden Koons stormed back and tied it up 4-4. The match remained knotted at 6-6, forcing a tiebreaker that the Demon Deacons 7-4 to take the point.
In singles, Luca Pow spotted Wake Forest to a 2-0 lead with a 6-0, 6-3 win at five. Sophomore Måns Dahlberg began the comeback for the Cavaliers, winning 6-4, 6-4 on six to make it 2-1.
Three of the other four remaining singles courts went to three sets, and all four courts had at least one set decided by a tiebreaker.
Rodesch had the biggest turnaround. He dropped his first set 6-1 against Suresh on the outdoor courts, but indoors, he took his second set to a tiebreaker, winning it 8-6 to force a third set. He won the decider 6-4 to tie the match 2-2.
Senior Iñaki Montes, playing at No. 2, won a tiebreaker 7-4 to win his first set and then took his second 6-4 against No. 25 Filippo Moroni to give UVA a 3-2 lead.
Wake Forest took a tight match on court four 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5 to make it 3-3.
Dietrich and Matthew Thomson were tied 4-4 when court four finished. The two players had traded breaks throughout their final set and did so again, with Dietrich going down a break and then breaking back to make it 5-5. Dietrich held serve and then broke Thomson to secure the victory for the Cavaliers.
Dylan Dietrich talks about winning the clinching point tonight against Wake Forest #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/51UqTTcMVk
— Virginia Men’s Tennis (@UVAMensTennis) March 2, 2024
FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO
“Just a great college tennis match. Both teams fought to the end….