The ACC
Virginia Wins Third-Straight ACC Men's Tennis Championship
For the third-consecutive year, the Virginia Cavaliers are the men's tennis champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference. UVA claimed the 2023 ACC Men's Tennis Championship with a 4-1 victory over No. 2 seed Duke in the final on Sunday afternoon at Cary Tennis Park.
The Cavaliers started strong in doubles play with Ryan Goetz and Alexander Kiefer beating Duke's Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni 6-3 and Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg defeating Connor Krug and Teddy Truwit 6-4 to clinch the doubles point for UVA.
Jeffrey von der Schulenburg gave Virginia a 2-0 lead with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Andrew Zhang on court 3 before the Blue Devils got on the board as Pedro Rodenas downed Inaki Montes 6-3, 6-3 on court 2.
The other four singles matches each went to a third set as this ACC championship final came down to the wire. Freshman Mans Dahlberg dropped his first set to Duke's Jake Krug on court 6, but won the second set and then rattled off five-straight games in the third set to earn a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win to make it 3-1 in favor of UVA.
Ryan Goetz had the honor of securing the championship for Virginia with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 victory over Connor Krug on court 4.
No. 10 Chris Rodesch was leading his third set against No. 13 Garrett Johns 3-2 and Alexander Kiefer was up 5-2 in the third set against Andrew Dale when play was suspended. Rodesch was named the ACC Tournament MVP after taking down two top 25-ranked opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Virginia claimed its third-straight ACC title and 15th in program history.
The Cavaliers bring a 24-4 overall record and a 16-match winning streak into the NCAA Championships, where they will look to repeat as national champions.
The selection show for both the Men's and Women's NCAA Tennis Championships will take place on Monday, May 1st at 6pm on NCAA.com.
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