Freshmen Sanam Singh and Michael Shabaz of the Virginia men's tennis team, each ranked among the top 5 in junior-level competition, were expected to come into Virginia's prestigious tennis program and make an immediate impact.
As often happens in sports, and life in general, buzz and hype can transform any performance that isn't perfect into a disappointment. Plagued by injuries, Shabaz and Singh struggled in the fall during tournament play. "Difficult transition," a term often used when a phenom does not live up to the immediate expectations on a higher level, was regularly mentioned when discussing the freshmen.
Virginia coach Brian Boland and other members of the Virginia team and staff, along with Shabaz and Singh themselves, simply addressed the difficulties as a necessary hurdle and a stepping stone to success.
"I didn't have a great fall [season]," Singh said. "And that's OK."
Rather than give up or attempt something dramatic, the freshmen have responded as if following philosopher Aristotle's advice: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Singh and Shabaz have shown incremental but monumental improvement this spring. The freshmen have healed from their nagging injuries to develop consistent practice regimens.
"Michael ... was injured in the fall," Boland said, "but now he's healthy and playing well and improving with each match."
And Singh has been doing the same.
"I've been practicing a lot," Singh said. "I've improved, and that's showing in my results."
Now, each of the players on the No. 1 Virginia team is on a hot streak. Shabaz has won four of his last six individual matches, while Singh has won 16 straight matches and recently notched a top-100 national ranking.
Equally impressive to how well they have played as individuals recently is how quickly and effectively they have gelled into a dominant doubles team. Now ranked No. 38 in the country, Singh and Shabaz have been a reliable No. 3 tandem for the successful Cavaliers.
"Just kind of working on things in practice has helped us a lot," Shabaz said of their doubles play. "I think we both play pretty good doubles in general."
With their frustrating fall season behind them, Shabaz and Singh say they are really beginning to enjoy the team-play nature of the spring dual meet season.
"Coming to college, [tennis] is a team competition," Shabaz said. "It's fun, it's exciting, but it's completely different because ... it's not just about you, it's about what your team does."
While Singh and Shabaz are focused on tweaking their game and bringing the Cavaliers their third ACC Championship in four years -- and perhaps a shot at taking home the title from the NCAA Championship -- Boland notes a level of excellence now being displayed by the freshmen, particularly in doubles play, that is on par with some of Virginia's historically greatest players.
"We've had teams that came together early on and had a great deal of success," Boland said. "I think Sanam and Michael really will be able to do great things over the course of the next several months and years to come."
Boland compared the Singh and Shabaz duo to the top-ranked doubles team of seniors Treat Huey and Somdev Devvarman, as well as some top-performing Cavalier doubles partners of the past decade.
Whether Singh and Shabaz go on to be a No. 1 tandem or remain low-key contributors to Virginia's program, there is little doubt they have moved past their difficult fall season toward excellence. They certainly have a vote of confidence from their head coach.
"We have two of the best freshmen in the country," Boland said.
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