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16 CAVALIER CORNER BY MELISSA DUDEK W hen you come across Virginia men's tennis third-year Chris Rodesch, be sure to say hello to him. The jovial 6-foot-6 All- American is seldom without a smile on his face and enjoys meeting Hoos fans. You can congratulate him on the Cavaliers' 2022 NCAA team championship. You can ask him about representing his home nation in Davis Cup ties. You can also ask him about the three professional-level titles he won last summer. Just don't ask him, "How are you?" "When I first came to America, it was kind of weird to me that everybody says, 'How are you?'" Rodesch said with a laugh. "Every- where you go, they say that. That was like the biggest shock. I was like, 'Why do you care about my day? You're a stranger to me.'" Rodesch grew up in Luxembourg, a nation of approximately 650,000 people in the center of Europe. With an influx of cultures from neighboring Belgium, Germany and France, as well as a strong Portuguese pres- ence, the tiny country of less than 1,000 square miles also has a need for its resi- dents to be fluent in various languages. In addition to Luxembourgish, Rodesch speaks French and German, and of course, English. His best language, however, is tennis. WORLD-CLASS WORLD-CLASS TALENT TALENT Chris Rodesch Has Excelled At Both UVA And On The International Stage Rodesch helped Virginia win the national championship last season, and then led his home country of Luxembourg to a Davis Cup World Group II victory this past February. (Photo courtesy UVA)