{"id":284390,"date":"2025-11-14T17:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T17:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/284390\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T17:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T17:18:08","slug":"at-charlottesville-challenger-virginias-tennis-champions-come-home-the-cavalier-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/284390\/","title":{"rendered":"At Charlottesville Challenger, Virginia\u2019s tennis champions come home – The Cavalier Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"

The annual Charlottesville Challenger<\/a>, a pro tournament hosted at Boar\u2019s Head Sports Club, always draws a crowd. But for three participants, the tournament felt less like another stop on the circuit and more like a homecoming.<\/p>\n

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, James Hopper and I\u00f1aki Montes de la Torre returned to the courts where they built their college legacies. For each, the week carried something deeper than their match outcomes or rankings. It was a return to where their stories began, a chance to connect with the current team, and for Montes and Hopper, a chance to reunite as doubles partners \u2014 this time, on the professional stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Class of 2017 alum Kwiatkowski helped define an era of dominance for Virginia tennis, helping the Cavaliers to three NCAA team titles and the 2017 NCAA Singles Championship. For him, walking back onto the Boar\u2019s Head tennis courts was about returning to the place that means most to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve grown up coming to Charlottesville since I was a little kid,\u201d Kwiatkowski said. \u201cBoth my parents went to U.Va. and were double Hoos. I grew up wanting to go here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even now, Kwiatkowski still follows the football team closely. He remembers the age where the team struggled, losing game after game, sometimes in heartbreaking fashion. So he is quite enjoying the current renaissance<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The school was so deep in his blood that when it came time for college recruitment, there was never much doubt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I looked at a lot of places,\u201d Kwiatkowski said. \u201cBut to be honest, [Virginia] was the only official visit I ever took. I had, of course, some chances to go to other places \u2026 but my heart was always set on coming here.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sense of belonging only deepened with time. After graduating in 2017, Kwiatkowski stayed in Charlottesville for five more years, training under assistant coach Carlos Benatzky and continuing to use Virginia\u2019s facilities with the support of Coach Andres Pedroso while he played a grueling schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is God’s country,\u201d Kwiatkowski said, laughing. \u201cI just loved, loved being here, and it was a great place to rest my mind after being on the road three, four weeks in a row \u2026 [Coming] home to Charlottesville is always a great reset.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Kwiatkowski returned this fall, it was not just for the Challenger but also for the 10-year NCAA reunion of the national title team. The week became a full-circle celebration of both his professional and personal ties to the University.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBoar\u2019s Head is like a playground for us,\u201d Kwiatkowski said. \u201cSo we’ll play golf, play padel, eat at all our favorite restaurants here and maybe go to some wineries if our wives are with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kwiatkowski said the reunion reminded him of everything the University gave him beyond tennis \u2014 lifelong friendships, community and a network that continues to open doors. He mentioned how his current boss graduated from the Darden School of Business and how his girlfriend played lacrosse for Virginia. Even years after graduating, he strongly believes this place is so special.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although he retired from full-time tennis in 2024 to start his career in finance, Kwiatkowski still finds joy in competing, especially when it brings him back home. He lost his first match this weekend in straight sets, but the experience was more than just winning and losing. It was another reminder of what this place means to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all worked out in a serendipitous way,\u201d Kwiatkowski said. \u201cWe had an amazing four years. It feels like an eternity ago now \u2026 it was almost 10 years, and it was a great time. I love Charlottesville with all my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Less than two years after Montes\u2019 graduation in 2024 and one year after Hopper\u2019s in 2025, the pair returned to the courts where they had spent countless hours side by side competing, training and building the doubles team chemistry that carried them to an NCAA title. This time, the stage was different. They were no longer representing Virginia. Now, they were professionals, reunited as doubles partners on the ATP Challenger Tour. The chemistry was instant, and so was the nostalgia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both remembered how much fun we had in the season we had playing together and how well we work on court together, chemistry wise,\u201d Hopper said. \u201cI think our game styles come together pretty well on the doubles court, and we complement each other well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both players also spoke about the adjustment to life on tour \u2014 long travel, independence, the challenge of finding rhythm without the built-in structure of college tennis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became very lonely for me,\u201d Montes said. \u201cI came from living with 10 of my best friends \u2026 coaches, friends around the University and having everything done for you \u2026 And then going on the tour, it was the complete opposite, traveling alone, having to manage your own flights, hotels, food.\u201d<\/p>\n

This reflection is why this week meant so much to both Hopper and Montes. They said that being back with the team, seeing the coaches on the sidelines and hearing the crowd cheer, it felt like Virginia college tennis all over again.<\/p>\n

Both Hopper and Montes admitted they could not pick a single favorite memory from their college years \u2014 there were simply too many. Hopper said what stood out most were the small moments like team dinners where everyone stacked their phones in the middle of the table so there were no distractions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just catching up, hanging out, bantering with all the guys,\u201d Hopper said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montes added that some memories went beyond the court entirely. When the team won an NCAA title, Montes recalled, \u201cAs an international student to still have a party of your own in your house where you hire security, you hire a DJ, you invite over 800 people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both players left Charlottesville fulfilled. Their ongoing connection to the program, they said, reflects what Virginia tennis has built under Pedroso \u2014 a culture that lasts long after their final walk on the Lawn. Montes said he spent as much time as possible hanging out with the current players \u2014 breakfast, lunch, dinner and invading the team\u2019s house.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Kwiatkowski, Hopper and Montes, returning to Boar\u2019s Head meant more than chasing ranking points. It was more about finding time for familiar rituals.<\/p>\n

Between practice sessions and matches, they found time for familiar rituals such as dinner with \u201cthe boys,\u201d catching up with coaches and revisiting the same haunts that defined their college years. The laughter came easily, and so did the memories.<\/p>\n

Before heading back on the road, conversation turned, fittingly, to one last Charlottesville staple \u2014 Bodo\u2019s. Hopper kept his classic order of a sausage, egg and cheese with salt, pepper and ketchup on either a sesame or everything bagel. Kwiatkowski went for something more unconventional \u2014 an everything bagel with turkey, egg and provolone, plus a plain bagel with blueberry cream cheese and turkey.<\/p>\n

Simple as it was, the bagel trip felt right \u2014 a small, comforting reminder that some traditions do not change, even when everything else does.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And when the next championship banner goes up, the three former Cavaliers are already planning their return.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[We\u2019ll] make sure to get our invite,\u201d Hopper said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The annual Charlottesville Challenger, a pro tournament hosted at Boar\u2019s Head Sports Club, always draws a crowd. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-284390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}