Men’s Tennis: Ryan Goetz wins ITA Atlantic Regional singles title

UVA men’s tennis sophomore Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, N.Y.) won the singles championship of the ITA Atlantic Regional, which was held Thursday through Monday, Oct. 17-21, at the Snyder Tennis Center and the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.

Goetz, who was the runner-up in singles at last year’s regional, prevailed in the 256- player singles bracket to earn the title and a spot in next month’s Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.

Goetz came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed with a double-bye into the Round of 64. He defeated the tournament’s top seed, Nicaise Muamba of Liberty, 6-2, 6-3, on Monday morning in the semifinals to advance to Monday afternoon’s championship match against Luca Maldoner of Old Dominion. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-4, Goetz won the second set 6-2, and then closed out a 6-4 third-set to secure the title.

Goetz was one of eight Virginia players competing in the championship. Junior Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) also advanced to Monday’s semifinal, but fell to Maldoner, 7-5, 6-2. Virginia had four of the eight players in Sunday’s quarterfinals, including senior Ammar Alhaqbani (Alexandria, Va.) who was the only unseeded player to advance all the way from the Round of 256 to the quarterfinals. Alhaqbani lost in straight sets to Goetz in the quarters.

Goetz and Alhaqbani also partnered in the doubles draw, advancing to the quarterfinals before being topped by a tandem from Virginia Tech.

Sophomore William Woodall, the No. 8 seed in the draw, was the fourth Virginia player to advance to the singles quarterfinals. Junior Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) made the Round of 32 while junior Jefferson Dockter (Atlanta, Ga.) and freshman Christian Alshon (Boca Raton, Fla.) each won two matches to make it to the Round of 64. Lord and Alshon partnered together to advance to the Round of 16 in doubles.

As the singles runner-up, Maldoner will also earn an invitation to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The Monarchs tandem of Francois Musitelli and Jannick Giesse won the doubles championship, topping Muamba and Deji Thomas-Smith of Liberty 6-4, 6-2 in Monday’s final. The ODU twosome earns a spot in the doubles draw of the fall championship.

Goetz is the tenth player in program history to win the singles title at this tournament. He joins Huntley Montgomery (2000), Dominic Inglot (2007-08), Jarmere Jenkins (2009-10), Harrison Richmond (2012), Ryan Shane (2014), J.C. Aragone (2016) and Aswin Lizen (2017) on the list of Cavaliers who have all won the singles title.

The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships features 128 of the nation’s top collegiate singles players (64 men and 64 women) and 64 doubles teams (32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams. This year, it is hosted By Newport Beach Tennis Club & The Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club and will be held November 6-10. In its third year, having replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, it is the lone event on the collegiate tennis calendar to feature competitors from all five divisions playing in the same tournament.