CHENGDU, China – Rising Virginia men’s tennis senior Jeffrey von der Schulenburg competed at the 2021 FISU World University Games, being held July 30- August 6, 2023, in Chengdu, China, winning a bronze medal in doubles and a silver in the team competition.
Von der Schulenburg represented Switzerland in the international competition featuring university-aged athletes competing in 18 different disciplines. He competed in both the singles and doubles draws at the Sichuan International Tennis Center.
Von der Schulenburg and partner Jonas Fabian Schaer were the No. 8 seed in the doubles draw. They earned a first-round bye and then posted a 6-0, 6-0 win against Marinho and Pereira of Brazil to advance to the quarterfinals. They moved into medal contention by topping Suk Ann and Yunseok Jang 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals. They dropped a close match against 6-seed Jan Jermar and Victor Sklenka of the Czech Republic in the semis, falling 0-6, 7-6 (5), 10-4. The result, however, earned the tandem a bronze medal.
His brother, Henry, won the singles gold. With the bronze in doubles and gold in singles, the Swiss team finished in second place, earning the silver medal in the team competition.
Von der Schulenburg is the second player in program history to medal at the World University Games. Dominic Inglot won silver in doubles in 2009 while representing the United Kingdom.
Von der Schulenburg was the 10 seed in the 32-player singles draw, earning a first-round bye. He topped Lung Roger Ng Ki 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the third round before being edged 6-4, 7-6 (4) by the 8-seed Hikaru Shitaishi of Japan.
Chengdu was set to host the event in 2021, but it has twice been rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is still referred to as the 2021 FISU World University Games even though the competition is taking place in 2023.