Men’s Tennis: No. 7 Virginia defeats No. 14 Wake Forest, 5-2

No. 7 Virginia defeated No. 14 Wake Forest by a 5-2 score on Saturday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

Wake Forest won the doubles point, but the Cavaliers won five of the six singles courts.

Freshman Chris Rodesch (Angelsberg, Luxembourg) tied the match with a quick 6-2, 6-3 win over Robert Maciag on court five.

Freshman Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (Zurich, Switzerland) followed with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Siddhant Banthia to give UVA a 2-1 lead.

Senior Carl Söderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) won his first set 6-3, but was blanked 6-0 in the second set to force a third set. Söderlund won the decider 6-2 to put UVA up 3-1.

Both courts two and three’s second sets went to tiebreakers at the same time. Junior Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, N.Y.) won his 7-4 to clinch the victory right before freshman Iñaki Montes (Pamplona, Spain) outlasted Tada Baadi 10-8 to give UVA a 5-1 lead.

The Demon Deacons Rrezart Cungu got a late break to take his match on court six to make it a 5-2 final.

“I am really proud of the guys,” UVA coach Andres Pedroso said. “Wake Forest played unbelievable in doubles. They came out and beat us. And, and our guys responded, so we’re really proud of them. We talked about resilience with the guys and they did that today. We’re a tough team to beat when everyone’s on the same page, competing fighting and playing the match together. I am so proud of these guys.”

#7 Virginia 5, #14 Wake Forest 2

Singles competition

1. #29 Carl Soderlund (VA) def. Henri Squire (WF) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
2. Inaki Montes (VA) def. #107 Taha Baadi (WF) 6-1, 7-6 (10-8)
3. Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Eduardo Nava (WF) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
4. #106 J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Siddhant Banthia (WF) 6-4, 6-2
5. Chris Rodesch (VA) def. Robert Maciag (WF) 6-2, 6-3
6. #92 Rrezart Cungu (WF) def. Gianni Ross (VA) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles competition

1. #18 Eduardo Nava/Henri Squire (WF) def. Carl Soderlund/William Woodall (VA) 6-2
2. Adam Ambrozy/Taha Baadi (WF) def. Ryan Goetz/Chris Rodesch (VA) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Siddhant Banthia/Matthew Thomson (WF) def. Inaki Montes/J vd Schulenburg (VA) 7-6 (7-4)

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

T-2:43 A-47