Men’s tennis: No. 1 UVA picks up 4-3 win at No. 15 Kentucky

The No. 1 UVA men’s tennis team (2-0, 0-0 ACC) picked up a 4-3 road victory at No. 15 Kentucky (4-2, 0-0 SEC) on Saturday (Feb. 4) at the Boone Tennis Center in Lexington, Ky.

The Cavaliers dropped the doubles point but picked up straight-set victories at one, three, five and six singles. For the second-straight day, the match was decided at the No. 6 singles court with junior Alexander Ritschard (Zurich, Switzerland) clinching the victory for Virginia with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Gus Benson.

“We lost another tough doubles point after serving for it, but once again, we kept battling,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “These road tests are exactly what we need right now. Kentucky is a great team and the environment here was awesome.”

Freshman Carl Soderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) and senior Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) opened the match with a quick 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles. Kentucky’s Trey Yates and Ryotaro Matsumura downed senior J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and junior Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) 6-3 at No. 3. Will Bushamuka and Nills Ellefsen rallied at No. 2 to pick up a 7-5 victory over senior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) to secure the doubles point for the Wildcats.

Söderlund made quick work of Beck Pennington at No. 3 singles, picking up a 6-0, 6-2 victory to tie the match. Kwiatkowski staked UVA to a 2-1 lead with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over 17th-ranked Matsumura at No. 1. Aragone, playing at No. 4, had the tightest match of the day, dropping both of his sets in tiebreakers, falling 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4). After a loss at No. 2 singles, the Cavaliers trailed 3-2, but Wiersholm tied the match with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 110 Trey Yates at No. 5 before Ritschard finished it off at line six.

The Cavaliers play their first conference contest of the season at Louisville (3-1, 0-0 ACC) on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 3:30 p.m.Virginia will play its first home match of the season on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. against Florida at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boars Head Sports Club.

#1 UVA 4, #15 Kentucky

Singles competition

1. #39 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. #17 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 7-5, 6-4
2. #23 Will Bushamuka (UK) def. Collin Altamirano (VA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Carl Soderlund (VA) def. Beck Pennington (UK) 6-0, 6-2
4. Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. #58 J.C. Aragone (VA) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4)
5. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. #110 Trey Yates (UK) 6-3, 6-4
6. Alexander Ritschard (VA) def. Gus Benson (UK) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Carl Soderlund/Luca Corinteli (VA) def. Enzo Wallart/Beck Pennington (UK) 6-1
2. Will Bushamuka/Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Collin Altamirano (VA) 7-5
3. Trey Yates/Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) def. #40 J.C. Aragone/Henrik Wiersholm (VA) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,1,4,2,5,6)

T-3:35