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cavalier profile WILLIAM WOODALL Fourth-Year • Tennis Gentleman. Unique. Crazy. Scary. These are the words that fourth-year men's tennis player William Woodall's teammates use when describing him. These words also definitely flood the minds of the 6-foot-4 imposing doubles specialist's opponents. "What makes William Woodall so good at dou- bles is his energy, his serve, and how scary he can be out there because he is creative," said second- year Iñaki Montes. "And scary." Woodall arrived on Grounds as a top-20 recruit and a past national champion in the Under-14 age bracket. His collegiate doubles domination began his first-year season with 17 victories, in- cluding three wins in NCAA Tournament matches. "My serve is my biggest weapon," Woodall said. "I love coming in, love being at net. I'm always try- ing to be aggressive, not trying to be at the base- line all day and grinding." Woodall has been a versatile weapon for UVA's lineup, playing with six different doubles partners this year and a dozen total across four years. No coupling was more successful than last year's pairing with Carl Söderlund on the top court when the duo rose to a No. 4 national ranking and earned a coveted invitation to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship. Even with the short- ened 2020 season, Woodall has already tallied 50 career doubles wins. Associate head coach Scott Brown has known Woodall since he was 14 years old and has seen his progression on the court, but more importantly, off the court. "The progression I've seen the most in him is how he's become more of a man, more mature," Brown said. "He's developed into a leadership role compared to when he was 14 or 15 years old. Since being at UVA, that's something he's doing more and more each year, adopting that role. "Tennis is just tennis, that kind of takes care of itself, but as a human being, he's come a long way. He's always very been very caring, but how he goes about his business and his professionalism have grown." What does Brown think makes Woodall a great doubles player? "His beard. Definitely his beard," he joked. — Melissa Dudek • Photo by Matt Riley/UVA APRIL 2022 31