Jeffrey von der Schulenburg, a member of the national champion UVA men’s tennis team, won a bronze medal in doubles at the FISU World University Games in Chengdu, China, this week.
Von der Schulenburg, a rising senior at UVA, 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.
The duo 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.
Von der Schulenburg is the second player in UVA program history to medal at the World University Games. Dominic Inglot won silver in doubles in 2009.
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.
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Chris Graham
