The Virginia men's tennis team is heading down the homestretch of its fall season, starting with the ITA Mideast Region Championships this weekend. The championships began with the qualifying round Wednesday and run through Sunday, with the finals held Monday. Virginia is hosting the tournament for the first time in its history.
"The tournament has been held in North Carolina for a long time," Virginia head coach Brian Boland said, "The tournament officials wanted to bring it to U.Va., which is a testament to how good our facilities are."
Boland noted the benefits of holding the tournament in Charlottesville; the location allows the team to gain experience without having to miss class to travel to an away match.
The top two singles players and the top doubles team in the regional championships will qualify for the national tournament, to be held at Ohio State University Nov. 1 to 4. The Cavaliers' top two players, seniors Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey, will not be participating in the regional competition because they have already qualified for nationals based on their performance at the ITA All-American Tournament at the University of Tulsa earlier this month. In the finals of the doubles tournament, Devvarman and Huey defeated Jonas Berg and Erling Tveit of Ole Miss with a 6-2, 7-5 score.
Junior Dominic Inglot is the highest-seeded Cavalier in the men's open singles, checking in at ninth. He played in the top three on the Virginia team last year, ranking as high as No. 67 in the ITA singles rankings during the season. Inglot and sophomore Houston Barrick form Virginia's highest-seeded doubles team, at fifth overall. They were named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team last year as a doubles team.
Barrick commented on how different doubles tennis is from singles tennis.
"Doubles is both easier and harder than singles. Dom and I have to work with each other without talking, just knowing what each other's going to do before we do it. We have been playing together for a year, so we do have that added experience."
Other players expected to lead the Cavaliers include senior Ted Angelinos, a Tulane transfer who played No. 6 on the team in singles last year. Angelinos will team up with sophomore Lee Singer to form a formidable doubles team. Freshmen Michael Shabaz and Sanam Singh will be making their debuts in the regional tournament. Shabaz has already made a name for himself in competition, having won the Junior Wimbledon Championship in doubles playing alongside Jesse Levine, who is currently playing on the ATP Tour. Singh was one of the top players in his age group in his native home India before coming to Virginia.
The regional championships will also feature several standout performers from other schools. The top seed overall in the singles tournament is senior David North from Georgia Tech, who compiled a 17-4 record in singles matches last season and is ranked No. 25 in the latest ITA rankings. The top-seeded doubles team is junior Nicolas Delgado and sophomore Pedro Graber from Virginia Tech.
Despite the competition, Virginia's players are quite confident about their chances in the tournament.
"The coaches have done a great job preparing us," Barrick said. "We are in a good position to do well in this tournament"
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