Montes battles defending Singles champ, but falls in NCAA Quarterfinals

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia men’s tennis sophomore Iñaki Montes had his run at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship come to an end in the quarterfinals on Thursday at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill.

Montes suffered a 6-3, 7-6 (5) loss against reigning singles champion Sam Riffice of Florida. Riffice had suffered a 7-5, 6-4 loss against Montes last Thursday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championship.

By advancing to the Round of 16, Montes earned All-America honors in singles for the first time in his career.

Montes advanced to the quarterfinals with a three-set victory against 2021 NCAA singles runner-up Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina. Montes dropped his first set 6-3, but rebounded by going up an early break in the second set and holding on for a 6-2 win. In the third set, Montes went up 5-0, but Rodrigues held and then broke Montes on a deuce point. Montes broke back to win the third set 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals.

Rodrigues was the 2-seed in the championship but holds the No. 1 spot in the last ITA Singles rankings. It was the third top-10 victory of the week for Montes in Champaign after twice defeating No. 10 Johannus Monday of Tennessee, once in the team championship and again on Tuesday in the second round of the singles championship. It was the first time a Cavalier player has defeated a No. 1 ranked singles player since Thai-Son Kwiatkowski defeated No. 1 Mikael Torpegaard in the Round of 16 of the 2017 NCAA Singles Championship.

Montes downed Peter Makk of Southern California on 6-3, 6-1 Monday night to start his run. He advanced to the Round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Monday in the second round. Monday, with his No. 10 ranking, was a 9-16 seed in the tournament.

Montes and Riffice faced one another last Thursday in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Montes won that match 7-5, 6-4.

Two other Cavaliers also competed in the singles championship.

Sophomore Chris Rodesch downed George Harwell of Vanderbilt 6-3, 6-4 on Monday in the opening round. He was edged 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 by Gabriel Diallo of Kentucky on Tuesday in the second round. Rodesch was the ACC’s automatic qualifier into the singles championship.

Sophomore  Jeffrey von der Schulenburg opened play by upsetting 9-16 seed Clement Chidekh of Washington 7-5, 6-3, but fell 7-6 (4), 6-1 against Brian Cernoch of North Carolina in the second round.

Rodesch and senior Ryan Goetz were the ACC’s automatic qualifiers into the doubles championship. They fell 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 against Jamieson Nathan and Matej Panik of Montana State in the first round of the tournament.

Results
R 64 Chris Rodesch (UVA) def. George Harwell (VAN) 6-3, 6-4
R 64 Jeffery Von Der Schulenburg (UVA) def. #9-16 Clement Chidekh (WASH) 7-5, 6-3
R 64 Inaki Montes (UVA) def. Peter Makk (USC) 6-3, 6-1

R32 Gabriel Diallo (UK) def. Chris Rodesch (UVA) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
R32 Brian Cernoch (UNC) def. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (UVA) 7-6(4), 6-1
R 32 Inaki Montes de la Torre (UVA) def. #9-16 Johannus Monday (TENN) 6-2, 6-1

R16 Inaki Montes de la Torre (UVA) def. #2 Daniel Rodrigues (SC) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
QF Sam Riffice (UF) def. Inaki Montes de la Torre 6-3, 7-6 (5)

R32 Nathan/Panik (MON ST) def. Rodesch/Goetz (UVA) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8)