A pair of Tar Heel men’s tennis players pulled off a stunning upset on Thursday at the ITA National Fall Championships in Newport Beach, California, as the doubles pairing of junior Mac Kiger and senior Simon Soendergaard defeated the tournament’s top-seeded pairing.

Kiger and Soendergaard advanced out of the first round by defeating Columbia’s Jack Lin and Jackie Tang in three sets 6-7, 6-3, 1-0 (3).

Last month, Lin and Tang won the ITA Fall All-American Championship title. They came in to this event as the sixth-ranked team in the entire country, and as the top seed were expected to take home the crown in this event.

Instead, the unlikely upset will have Kiger and Soendergaard moving on to Thursday’s second round action.

 

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics