A large crowd filled the stands overlooking the outdoor courts at Boar’s Head Sports Club, there on a warm sunny day to watch No. 2 Virginia face visiting No. 38 SMU. The usual stakes of a dual match between two college tennis mainstays were overshadowed by another spectacle — a Court 1 battle between the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked singles players in Division I men’s tennis.
That match, like the dual itself, delivered. As the Cavaliers (10-2, 2-0 ACC) built a 4-2 win over the visiting Mustangs (9-6, 1-1 ACC), Virginia’s No. 2 junior Dylan Dietrich finalized a three-set upset over No. 1 junior Trevor Svajda, handing the SMU star his first loss of the dual season.
SMU got off to a strong start, making the first move in doubles at Line 2. Svajda and his partner, senior Jerry Barton held on deuce up 5-1, securing a quick 6-1 win. Both of the other courts were more competitive on the day, each reaching a 6-6 score and forcing a tiebreak.
Opening the tiebreak 4-2, then 5-3, then 6-4, on both courts, the Mustangs placed themselves in a strong position to take the doubles point, needing one point on either court to start the dual 1-0. That point came on Line 3, as a clean backhand volley confirmed a win for senior Vikas Deo and sophomore Georgi Georgiev over sophomores Keegan Rice and Stiles Brockett. With SMU clinching the doubles point, No. 3 senior Mans Dahlberg and Dietrich did not finish their match — their first time playing doubles as a pairing since Jan. 15, having won the NCAA doubles championship in November.
Furthering their momentum, the Mustangs started well in singles — taking three of six first sets. The Cavaliers, however, evened the score at 1-1 off a dominant Court 4 performance from No. 24 freshman Andres Santamarta Roig, who never let his opponent gain any momentum as he won the first set 6-3 then the second 6-2.
On Court 2, No. 12 Rice had quickly taken the first set off No. 96 graduate student Alex Finkelstein 6-1. His opponent quickly bounced back, building a 5-0 lead in the second, extending points and attacking the net constantly. Rice was able to win three straight games before Finkelstein held his serve to force a third set. Regaining his momentum, Rice put together another 6-1 set win, earning the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead on the dual and extending his spring record to 7-1.
Not long after, the score was again tied. On Court 5, SMU junior Krish Arora and Virginia sophomore Stiles Brockett had reached a first-set tiebreak after a tight 12 games. Arora, playing aggressively and attacking whenever he could, took the tiebreak 8-6, then won the second set 6-4 to even the dual at two apiece.
At that time, Dietrich and Svajda were in their third set, the Mustang having taken the first 6-3 and the Cavalier having taken the second 6-1. An incredible match of tennis, the two players could not be more stylistically distinct — Svajda is a precise and composed player that wins points off control and placement while Dietrich uses his height and length to win off powerful serves and point-ending winners from the baseline.
That matchup is one that forced Dietrich to do more on the court in order to win. Svajda’s strong placement and smooth movement meant that Dietrich needed to consistently recover fast, hit balls while moving and force pace into points in order to gain an advantage. As the third set got underway, Dietrich found himself in more long rallies, using his powerful backhand and laser-like serves to win him points. After the two exchanging holds and breaks, the set was tied at 3-3.
Dietrich then broke Svajda again to go up 4-3, before playing arguably his best service game of the day — a rapid four-point performance that put him up 5-3. A few points later, and Dietrich broke Svajda again, earning a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over the No. 1 player in the country and the highest-ranked win of his career.
Seconds afterwards, Dietrich’s championship partner and friend Dahlberg wrapped up a three-set victory on Court 6 to clinch the dual. Finding his momentum later in the match, Dahlberg played confidently from the baseline for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win. At the time of completion, No. 80 Kim had match point on his opponent, having taken the first set tiebreak 7-4 then built a 5-4 lead in the second.
Next, the Cavaliers will take a trip to the Golden State for a pair of road duals at No. 39 California and No. 12 Stanford. The Golden Beats (8-6, 1-1 ACC) have one ranked singles player and two ranked pairings, while the Cardinal (8-4, 1-1 ACC) boast two ranked singles players and three ranked pairings.
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