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FEBRUARY 2021 29 cavalier profile GIANNI ROSS Fourth-Year • Tennis Gianni Mac Ross was perhaps born to play tennis. His name, when said aloud, is intentionally an allusion to John McEn- roe's nickname, Johnny Mac. He has an older brother named after U.S. Davis Cup legend Alex Olmedo and has grown up with dogs named after a slew of tennis legends from Ashe to Rafa. Ross came to UVA as the No. 2 recruit in the 2017 class, reaching a career-high junior world ranking of No. 13 after win- ning the prestigious 2016 Easter Bowl ti- tle and representing the U.S. in Junior Da- vis Cup matches as well as playing in the Junior French Open, Junior Wimbledon and the Junior U.S. Open in the months before heading to Charlottesville. For the past three years, Ross has turned that promise into results on the court. Head- ing into his fourth-year season, the 2018 ITA Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year has logged a combined 92 singles and doubles victories as a mainstay of the UVA lineup. "Gianni brings a work ethic and commit- ment to maximizing his craft on the tennis court that has become contagious on our team," head coach Andres Pedroso said. "He is as intense of a fighter in practice matches as he is when he is competing for the orange and blue. "Gianni brings a grittiness to our team and personifies a level of toughness that opponents must endure until the very last point. Gianni is a fighter, a competitor and one of the most prepared student-athletes on our team. This will be his legacy when this season is over." The psychology major has also fully em- braced both sides of the student-athlete equation. "Gianni has devoted his time at the Uni- versity of Virginia to learning," Pedroso con- tinued. "To characterize Gianni as someone who has a growth mindset would be a ma- jor understatement. Over the past three years, Gianni has excelled in the classroom, on the tennis court, and he has discovered interests and passions that might have been foreign to him prior to arriving to Charlot- tesville. "Gianni has taken full advantage of the UVA student-athlete experience, and the impact he has had on our team has been profound." — Melissa Dudek Photo courtesy UVA