Dietrich dug down deep, trailing 5-2, to clinch match

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Down 5 games to 2 in the third set of the NCAA’s Round of 16, a trip to Waco’s quarterfinals on the line, there was not enough pressure to cause Virginia’s Dylan Dietrich to fold on Saturday afternoon at the Boar’s Head courts.

Arizona’s Jay Friend was up 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 5-2 over Dietrich, and for a moment, the situation looked dire for the Cavaliers. UVA was up 3-2 in the overall match, but the final two singles matches were extremely tight.

Dietrich displayed phenomenal mental toughness, digging down deep to battle back and reeled off five straight game wins to take the third set, 7-5, and send Virginia to next week’s quarters in Texas.

It was a comeback for the ages.

“I kind of told myself I was also down in the second set, 6-5, and [Friend] was serving for the match, and I felt like he got a little tight,” Dietrich said after the inspiring rally. “Closing out, it’s not easy.

“Basically I told myself that, okay, he failed in the second set of closing me out, so let’s just make it as tough as possible for him. Let’s try to make as many balls as possible and let’s see if we can close him out. I thought [Friend] needs to hit four winners and I’m not going to miss, and that’s exactly what I did.”

Dietrich detected at that point of the match that he might be fitter than Friend, a result of UVA’s conditioning, and that he was a little more patient than his opponent, which helped as well.

Studying Friend throughout the match, Dietrich made some strategic decisions that helped him not only stay in the match, but to survive and advance.

“The more I started moving the ball a little bit more, not taking risks, but tried to make [Friend] move a little bit more, switching from cross to line, without taking full risk, just putting the ball in the middle of the court,” Dietrich explained. “I think that kind of helped me in the end, especially when it got more physical toward the third set.

“Just make him move, make him uncomfortable, make him go for a lot of risks. I mean, in the end, he was swinging at every ball in the foreign corner and going for everything or nothing. I think that was the most important thing.”

Dietrich also felt that as the balls got older it was an advantage for him because of his long arms, his ability to accelerate the ball heavily, making it tougher on his opponent.

Later, he would call this match the biggest comeback of his career.

“There were other comebacks I had, but I mean, in the Round of 16, NCAA, comes down to me and Mans. To pull off such a comeback is huge, especially with such a great crowd watching. It was just special. I couldn’t ask for a better time to do it than at home in this situation,” Dietrich said.

“He’s a competitor,” said Virginia coach Andres Pedroso. “That kid wants to win and he’s gonna scrap and claw and just find ways. He did it all of last year. He played sick, he played hurt, and he’s done it this year. I feel really confident when it comes down to him.”

With a packed house at Virginia’s courts at Boar’s Head, the pressure quickly refocused on Dietrich’s match after Arizona had tightened the match to 3-2, with the two remaining singles matches in play. Dietrich was down and teammate Dahlberg was battling in a third set just a couple of courts over.

All eyes were on the two matches as the pressure mounted.

As Pedroso pointed out, matches can flip quickly, and so both team’s seasons were on the line.

All that stuff Pedroso constantly preaches to his team about a winning DNA, never giving up, fighting to the end, evolved into reality on Court No. 2 as Dietrich’s resolve was fully on display.

“I mean, ultimately, when you put on the UVA uniform, like coach said, it’s like a part of us, it’s really tough to beat Virginia, especially in May and wearing all white (uniforms, a tradition). It’s just something special,” Dietrich said. “This match, this day reminded me of the older guys that graduated last year and even the years before that, what they all have worked for, is just all coming together.”

The Hoos are Waco bound!!! #NCAATennis #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/75A61KgeAM

— Virginia Men’s Tennis (@UVAMensTennis) May 10, 2025