To be considered one of the top players in college tennis, winning the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championship tournament is a step in the right direction. Starting today, four tennis players from the Virginia men’s tennis team hope to take this step.
Four of Virginia’s top players — senior Dominic Inglot, junior Houston Barrick and sophomores Sanam Singh and Michael Shabaz — were chosen by coach Brian Boland to compete in the Tulsa, Okla. tournament. The four athletes were selected based on their experience and the fact that “they are incredible leaders,” Boland said.
The tournament consists of singles matches, in which all tournament participants compete, and doubles matches that, while not including all tournament participants, will feature Virginia’s athletes.
For Shabaz and Barrick to enter the main draw, they must win their individual preliminary matches. Inglot and Singh, however, do not have to qualify, having been automatically put into the draws based on their high ranking. The top seeds are placed first, with the remaining players added around them.
Shabaz is looking forward to this weekend and to the opportunity to prove his talent in the national limelight.
“The All-American is one of the biggest college tournaments in the country,” Shabaz said. “I am excited because it is my first year playing [in the tournament]. I’m playing well right now, so hopefully I can make a run to get to the main draw.”
On the doubles side, Inglot and Shabaz will be playing together. This past weekend, in the Ranked Plus One Invitational in Charlottesville, they won their first tournament together this season in the A-3 flight, even though it was Inglot’s first tournament after recovering from an injury.
“I am also excited about doubles because me and Dom [Inglot] have a good shot of going deep into the tournament,” Shabaz said.
Singh and Barrick will be playing as the other Cavalier pair. In last week’s Invitational, the pair made it to the A-1 flight final before losing 8-5. This summer, they won the doubles title at the ITA National Summer Championships.
Singh and Barrick “have had incredible highlights so far,” Boland said. “They deserve a lot of credit for the success they’re having.”
All four Cavaliers have the unique chance to prove themselves against some of the best tennis players in the nation at the tournament.
“They should gain an incredible amount of confidence at the level they are playing at,” Boland said. “They know they can play against the best players in the country and match up well against anyone.”
The tournament is long — more than a week in length — but Boland does not see this as a problem, noting the increased opportunities the players have for developing their skills during a long tournament.
“They guys are going in with a great amount of confidence,” Boland said. “They have all shown tremendous development as players. It will be a lot of fun for them and they can do some great things out there ... It is good for them to go out and get better each day, and the performances and results will take care of themselves. Each will have to focus on improving, and they’ve done a great job at that.”
The entire Cavalier team will not play in Charlottesville until Nov. 6, when it will host the ITA National Indoor Championships at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. Many of the players the athletes face in November will be familiar faces from the All-American tournament. When the team’s leaders return from Oklahoma, they should be able to advise their teammates on what to expect in the coming month.
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