UVA Tennis Duo Wins ITA All-American Consolation Doubles Title
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships in Tulsa concluded this weekend and a pair of Virginia men’s tennis players brought home some serious hardware.
The doubles pairing of senior Ryan Goetz and sophomore Chris Rodesch won the doubles championship in the consolation bracket. Rodesch also advanced to the final match of the consolation bracket for the singles tournament, finishing runner-up.
Rodesch, a sophomore from Angelsberg, Luxembourg, played in a striking total of 17 matches throughout the week, including nine singles matches and eight doubles matches. He turned in a record of 7-2 in singles and 7-1 when paired up with Goetz in the doubles matches.
In order to qualify for the 64-player main draw, Rodesch had to earn a spot through the qualifying bracket. He won three matches in qualifiers, including a three-set victory over No. 51 Garrett Johns from Duke, and advanced to the main draw.
In the first round of the main draw, Rodesch was defeated (4-6, 2-6) by Georgia’s Hamish Stewart, the No. 23-ranked player. As a result of his first-round loss, Rodesch continued on to the consolation bracket for singles, where he won four consecutive matches, including a straight set victory (6-2, 6-4) over No. 14 Andy Andrade of Florida in the quarterfinals.
Rodesch defeated Princeton’s Karl Poling (1-6, 6-3, 6-4) to advance to the finals, where he lost to No. 20 Matej Vocel of Ohio State in three sets (4-6, 7-5, 5-7).
Vocel was playing in the consolation bracket as a result of being defeated by Virginia’s Ryan Goetz in the Round of 64 in the single’s main draw.
Goetz was one of 48 players to earn an automatic qualifier to the main draw. The senior from Greenlawn, New York pulled the upset (3-6, 6-2, 6-3) over Vocel in the Round of 64, but then fell to Washington’s Clement Chidekh in the Round of 32, ending the singles run for Goetz.
On many days of last week’s tournament, Chris Rodesch was playing in multiple singles matches on the same day that he was playing with Goetz in the consolation bracket for doubles.
Goetz and Rodesch won three straight matches over pairings from Middle Tennessee, SMU, and Texas and advanced to the main draw. In the Round of 32, the UVA duo was bested by Justin Boulais and James Trotter of Ohio State, sending the Virginia team to the consolation bracket.
In perhaps the most significant result of the entire tournament, Goetz and Rodesch pulled an upset victory over the top-seeded doubles pairing in the tournament in UCF’s Trey Hilderbrand and No. 3-ranked Bogdan Pavel (6-4, 7-5).
The Hoos were then victorious in a doubles match against Arizona (6-2, 6-2) and advanced to the consolation semifinals against Duke’s Sean Sculley and No. 9-ranked Garrett Johns. After losing the first set in a 6-7 tiebreaker, Goetz and Rodesch won the second set, 7-6, and the third set in a super tiebreaker, 10-6 (played to 10 points rather than 7), to advance to the consolation finals.
In the finals against Oregon, Virginia fell behind once again, dropping the first set 4-6. The Cavaliers responded by winning the second set, 7-5, and the third set, 11-9, in another epic super tiebreaker to clinch the doubles title.
Goetz and Rodesch combined for a 15-4 overall record, including a victory in the consolation doubles championship and Rodesch’s runner-up finish in the singles consolation bracket.
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