Cavaliers Now

Iñaki Montes Upsets No. 2 Seed Daniel Rodrigues in NCAA Singles Tournament

Montes has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championship

Matt Newton

Photo courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Virginia's Iñaki Montes has advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championship after pulling a massive upset over the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, Daniel Rodrigues of South Carolina. 

Rodrigues is the No. 2 seed in the tournament, but is the No. 1 men's tennis player in ITA's Collegiate Tennis Rankings. Montes dropped the first set against Rodrigues, but rallied to win the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a stunning upset. 

This is the third victory over a top-10 opponent for Montes this week as he defeated No. 10 Johannus Monday in the Round of 32 of the singles championship as well as when the two players met in Virginia's victory over Tennessee in the team championship. 

Montes advances to the quarterfinals and is set to face Florida's Sam Riffice, the defending NCAA singles champion. Riffice and Montes faced each other last Thursday and Montes won 7-5, 6-4 to help the Cavaliers beat the Gators in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championship. 

Montes will battle Riffice for a spot in the semifinals at noon on Thursday. That match can be streamed live on the TennisOne app and website.

Virginia Women's Tennis Update

Emma Navarro, the No. 1 seed and reigning NCAA singles champion, will not defend her title. The sophomore fell to NC State's Abigail Rencheli 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a shocking upset in the NCAA Women's Singles Round of 16 on Wednesday. This is just the second loss of the season for Navarro and third of her collegiate career. Navarro finishes the season with a 26-2 record in singles action. 

UVA's Natasha Subhash also lost in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, falling to VCU's Paolo Diaz-Delgado 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. 

In the women's doubles tournament, Emma Navarro and Hibah Shaikh lost to Pepperdine's Janice Tjen and Savannah Broadus 6-1, 6-2 in the Round of 16 on Wednesday night. 

Emma Navarro, Natasha Subhash, and Hibah Shaikh have each earned All-America honors for their performances in the NCAA Championships. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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