Men’s Tennis: Virginia wins 4-2 nailbiter over Arizona, advances to Waco

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Posted on Saturday, May. 10, 2025, 9:47 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Late in Saturday’s NCAA Round of 16 match between No. 7 seeded Virginia and visiting No. 10 Arizona, the outcome was up in the air as the Wildcats tightened the match to 3-2 with two close singles matches up for grabs.

A confident Andres Pedroso must have figured he had Arizona exactly where he wanted them.

UVA’s Dylan Dietrich was trailing Jay Friend, 5-2, in the final set on Court 2, while teammate Mans Dahlberg was battling Casper Christensen tooth-and-nail in a third set on Court 6. All the pressure of advancing to next week’s NCAA quarterfinals in Waco, Texas, had come down to these pair of nailbiters.

If Dietrich felt that pressure, he kept it well disguised as he mounted the biggest comeback of his career and stormed back to upset Friend, 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5, to give Virginia a 4-2 victory over the Big 12 champions.

Pedroso’s 23-7 Wahoos advance to Waco, where they will face No. 2 seed TCU (25-3) in the quarterfinals next Friday.

For the Virginia coach, Saturday’s win validated everything that he believed about his young team, which at times has started five freshmen this season.

“We’ve heard it all year that we’re young, we’re inexperienced, that these guys don’t really know what college tennis is,” Pedroso said. “Heard all of it on social media and in articles, and I’ve heard coaches say it.”

Pedroso, who has built a championship culture at Virginia, piggy-backing on what Brian Boland established years ago, knew this team could overcome the inexperience and rise to the cream of the crop.

“As soon as you step foot on grounds at UVA and you’re a member of this program, being the mentally toughest player you can possibly be becomes your DNA,” Pedroso said after Saturday’s win. “So many players in this program have done that and it’s tradition, so I try and ingrain that in their minds as often as I possibly can because it’s the truth.”

Dietrich (sophomore) and Dahlberg (junior) defeated Friend and Eric Padgham on the top doubles court, while freshmen Rafael Jódar and Roy Horovitz saved two break points while serving for the match for a 6-4 victory that gave Virginia the all-important doubles point and a 1-0 lead before singles play.

Keegan Rice (freshman) defeated Arizona’s Zoran Ludoski, 6-4, 6-2, for an early 2-0 UVA lead, which soon grew to 3-0 when grad student James Hopper broke Alexander Rozin for a 6-4 first set and sent on to win, 7-5, to close out the match.

Fifth-seeded Colton Smith of the Wildcats delivered on a fourth match point to beat Jódar, 6-3, 7-6 (7), on the top singles court to give Arizona its first point of the match, trailing 3-1. Then Filip Gustafsson downed UVA freshman Jangjun Kim, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5, taking the final two games of the match to narrow the gap to 3-2, leaving things up to the remaining two tight singles matches.

Dietrich and Dahlberg both lost their opening sets, but fought back admirably. As previously mentioned, Dietrich was down 5-2 in the third set, held serve, then broke Friend and evened the set at 5-5. He broke Friend again and served for the win, winning the last five games for the triumph that iced the match.

Meanwhile, Dahlberg led Christensen, 5-3, in the final set as Dietrich wrapped up the win.

“We knew that the doubles point was important and I really emphasized to the guys in the locker room to come out the right way, that we might surprise them a little bit,” Pedroso said. “Because (Arizona) is known for being loud, and are known for playing with a lot of emotion, and I don’t think we are, so I said, ‘Guys, let’s show them that we can be a little bit like that, too.’ And I think that helped us.”

A packed house watched Virginia celebrate yet another milestone in its storied tennis history, advancing to another championship weekend.

Now, it’s on to Waco and TCU’s Horned Frogs, and Virginia will be considered underdogs, but with a very dangerous bite.

“We just start over,” Pedroso said. “Every single match of this tournament you have to start over. It’s almost like a new season once you get to Waco. Every match is 50-50, everyone is going to be well prepared.

“I’ve learned not to underestimate the dysfunction in the locker room — the other team’s locker room, that is. So this is what we play for, and we’ve been pretty good at it over the years.”

ADDITIONAL NOTES
Courtesy UVA Media Relations

  • Virginia is the No. 7 seed in the championship and the No. 4 ranked team in the ITA Team Rankings
  • This was the first ever meeting between Virginia and Arizona
  • The Wildcats were the No. 10 seed and ranked No. 10 in the ITA Team Rankings
  • UVA ended Arizona’s 11-match win streak
  • The Cavaliers advance to the quarterfinals for the 18th time in the last 20 championships
  • Dylan Dietrich improves to 23-8 this season in singles and 17-5 in dual matches
  • Dietrich’s win over No. 6 Jay Friend is his second top 10 ranked singles win of the season
  • Keegan Rice picked up his third ranked singles victory of the season
  • Roy Horovitz and Rafael Jódar stayed undefeated this season as a doubles team, improving to 5-0
  • TCU leads the all-time series with UVA, 6-3. The Horned Frogs have won the last two matchups, including the most recent meeting in 2022
  • The Horned Frogs are ranked No. 2 in the ITA Team Rankings and are the No. 2 seed

VIRGINIA 4, ARIZONA 2

Singles
1. #5 Colton Smith (ARIZ) def. #4 Rafael Jódar (VA) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
2. #32 Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. #6 Jay Friend (ARIZ) 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-5
3. Keegan Rice (VA) def. #103 Zoran Ludoski (ARIZ) 6-4, 6-2
4. James Hopper (VA) def. Alexander Rozin (ARIZ) 6-4, 7-5
5. Filip Gustafsson (ARIZ) def. Jangjun Kim (VA) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
6. Mans Dahlberg (VA) vs. Casper Christensen (ARIZ) 3-6, 6-4, 5-3, unfinished

Doubles
1. #31 Mans Dahlberg/Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. Jay Friend/Eric Padgham (ARIZ) 6-3
2. #23 Keegan Rice/James Hopper (VA) vs. Casper Christensen/Filip Gustafsson (ARIZ) 5-4, unfinished
3. Rafael Jódar/Roy Horovitz (VA) def. Colton Smith/Alexander Rozin (ARIZ) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,4,1,5,2)