Sometimes high expectations can be daunting. Beginning the season ranked tenth in the nation, the Virginia men's tennis team was expected to achieve a certain level of performance. So far, the Cavaliers have proven well up to the challenge.
Heading into this weekend's matches against ACC rivals N.C. State and Wake Forest, the men's tennis team is ranked No. 3 in the nation. After starting out the season 8-0, the Cavaliers have a current record of 14-2 and have won three straight matches, including a strong 6-1 triumph over Georgia Tech Sunday. On a road trip to four Texas schools earlier this month, the Cavaliers earned three wins against top-25 teams. Virginia's lone defeat on the trip came at the hands of No. 1 Baylor.
In addition to their current three-match winning streak, the Cavaliers have experienced other positive trends in recent weeks. Junior Darrin Cohen, the 48th-ranked player in the nation, has won four straight singles matches. Of Cohen's four consecutive victories, three have come in straight sets, including a 6-1, 7-5 win over Baylor's Vladimir Portnov.
"I've been playing the best tennis of my life the last few weeks," Cohen said. "It's been great."
In his first collegiate season, freshman Somdev Devvarman has been very consistent as Virginia's No. 3 singles player. Devvarman has a current winning streak of six singles matches. In addition to his success as a singles player, Devvarman has teamed up with fellow freshman Treat Huey to form a strong doubles team. Devarrman's outstanding performance so far this season has earned him a ranking as the No. 15 singles player in the nation. Of the Cavaliers, only junior Doug Stewart, at No. 8, has a higher national ranking than Devvarman.
Stewart has excelled as the top singles player on the team this season. Some of his best matches have come against his toughest competition. At February's National Indoor Championships, Stewart defeated Mississippi's Catalin Gard, then the top-ranked college player, and Stanford's Sam Warburg, currently the No. 2 player in collegiate tennis.
Despite not having lost a match since March 6, Virginia slipped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings this week. Two of the Cavaliers' last three victories have been decided by a close 4-3 margin, and the rankings place less value on closer wins. Virginia's next two opponents, N.C. State and Wake Forest, are ranked well below the Cavaliers at No. 37 and No. 25 respectively, but the Cavaliers aren't taking either team lightly.
"N.C. State is a much improved program
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