Iñaki Montes, along with other members of the Virginia men’s tennis team, is competing at the 75K Jonathan Fried Pro Challenger in Charlottesville. Montes secured a spot in the main draw with a fantastic 7-5, 6-2 victory against Christian Langmo, who is ranked 386th in the world. The tournament is taking place at the Boar’s Head Sports Club from October 29 to November 5. Admission is free for matches until Thursday. In addition to Montes, Dylan Dietrich and James Hopper also won their qualifying matches and will be playing in the doubles main draw. Chris Rodesch and Virginia alums Alexander Ritschard and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski will be competing in the main draw in both singles and doubles. The event, now in its 14th year, is held to benefit Special Olympics.
In the main draw action, Montes will face Adam Walton, the 6th seed and 174th-ranked player, on Tuesday. Rodesch will take on Denis Kudla, the 7th seed and 180th-ranked player, also on Tuesday. Ritschard will play against Aidan McHugh, ranked 328th, on Tuesday morning. In the doubles main draw, Dietrich and Hopper will face Germans Sebastian Fanselow and Lucas Gerch in the first round on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Kwiatkowski was narrowly defeated by Beibit Zhukayev of Kazakhstan in a thrilling match that ended 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3).
During the qualifying finals on Monday, Montes defeated Langmo 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the main draw. Dietrich, on the other hand, lost to Ethan Quinn, the 2023 NCAA Singles Champion, in a close match that ended 7-6 (1), 6-3. Kwiatkowski will play his first round match against Zhukayev on Tuesday afternoon.
In the previous matches, Dietrich defeated Alexander Cozbinov of Moldova 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 to advance to the qualifying final. Montes also had a great win, beating American Alex Rybakov 6-2, 6-3. Unfortunately, Hopper lost to Quinn 6-0, 6-3, and Yaffa was defeated by top seed Aidan Mayo 6-2, 6-2. Alexander Kiefer had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.