Montes and Goetz finish as doubles runners-up at ITA Atlantic Regional

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia sophomore Iñaki Montes and senior Ryan Goetz were the runners-up in the doubles bracket at the ITA Atlantic Super Regional that was held Saturday through Monday in Norfolk.

Montes was also a finalist in singles. He won his Monday semifinal match against VCU’s Charles Bertimon, 6-3, 7-6(4) to earn his spot in the final where he was set to face Francois Le Tallec of ODU. However, Montes suffered an injury and was forced to retire, giving the title to Le Tallec. Because of the injury, Goetz and Montes also were named the runners-up in doubles as their final was scheduled to be played after the singles championship.

As finalists, Montes and Goetz earn invitations to compete at the 2021 ITA National Fall Championships being held Nov. 4-7 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif.

For the first time, the Intercollegiate Tennis Associations’ regional championships were split with qualifying matches happening at different regional sites earlier this month. Sixteen singles players and eight doubles teams earned spots in those fields through qualifying. The remaining 16 singles players and eight doubles teams earned direct entry into this week’s Super Regional by virtue of their ITA and/or UTR ranking.

The Cavaliers had two players, Bar Botzer and Alexander Kiefer, earn their way into the singles draw through qualifying. Goetz, Montes and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg received direct entry into the Super Regional singles draw. Botzer and von der Schulenburg also competed in doubles.

On Saturday, von der Schulenburg and Montes both won two singles matches to advance to the quarterfinals. Botzer, Goetz and Kiefer all fell in the opening round. Both doubles teams picked up a win to advance to the quarterfinals.

Montes won 7-6 (4), 6-2 against VCU’s Inigo Torre Martin. He will face Charles Bertimon also from VCU on Monday in the semis. In doubles, Goetz and Montes battled for a 3-6, 6-2, 10-7 win against the team from Temple to qualify for Monday’s final where they were supposed to face top-seeded Luca Maldoner and Nicola Vidal  after the ODU tandem dispatched von der Schulenburg and Botzer in the semis, 6-2, 4-6, 10-8.

On Sunday, von der Schulenburg topped Marin Delmas of Temple 6-2, 6-2 in singles before falling 6-1, 6-4 against Francois Le Tallec of Old Dominion in Monday’s semifinal.

Singles competition

32 — Montes def. Ryan Fishback (Virginia Tech) 6-2, 6-4
16 — Montes def. Chikaya Sato (Penn State) 6-2, 6-3
QF — Montes def. Inigo Torre Martin (VCU) 7-6, 6-2
SF — Montes def. Charles Bertimon (VCU) 6-3, 7-6
F — Francois Le Tallec (Old Dominion) def. Montes 3-0, inj

32 — J vd Schulenburg def. Michael Shepheard (Virginia Tech) 6-2, 7-5
16 — J vd Schulenburg def. Bora Sengul (Penn State) 7-5, 6-4
QF — J vd Schulenburg def. Marin Delmas (Temple) 6-2, 6-2
SF — Francois Le Tallec (Old Dominion) def. J vd Schulenburg 6-1, 6-4
32 — Inigo Torre Martin (VCU) def. Kiefer 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
32 — Younes Lalami (Old Dominion) def. Goetz 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
32 — Le Tallec def. Botzer 6-2, 6-2

Extra Singles Matches

Botzer def. Guilherme Severin (Radford) 6-2, 7-5
Kiefer def. Sean Joseph (William & Mary) 6-0, 6-2
Botzer def. Luca Maldoner (Old Dominion) 6-3, 5-7, 10-6
Goetz def. Hugo Maia (Virginia Tech) 6-3, 6-3
Ryan Fishback (Virginia Tech) def. Kiefer 4-6, 6-4, 10-7

Doubles competition

16 — Goetz/Montes def. Rayane Stable/Inigo Torre Martin (VCU) 8-4
QF — Goetz/ Montes def. Scott Sculley/Ryan Fishback (Virginia Tech) 8-7
SF — Goetz/Montes def. Louis Gorregues/Marin Delmas (Temple) 3-6, 6-2, 10-7
F — Nicola Vidal/Luca Maldoner (Old Dominion) def. Goetz/Montes, inj

16 — J vd Schulenburg/Botzer def. R Marques da Silva/Josh Wilson (Liberty) 8-7
QF — J vd Schulenburg/Botzer def. William Karpinski/Holden Koons (James Madison) 8-4
SF — Luca Maldoner/Nicola Vidal (Old Dominion) def. J vd Schulenburg/Botzer 6-2, 4-6, 10-8