When Virginia hosts the ITA Atlantic Regional this weekend, its players will take the first step toward defending a title their injured teammate sophomore Mitchell Frank cannot.
The main draw of the four-day tournament begins Friday, and winners from both the doubles and singles flights will receive automatic bids to November’s ITA National Individual Indoors tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY.
Last year, Frank won the National Indoors but will miss this year’s tournament after undergoing season-ending knee surgery in August. Instead, seven of his Cavalier teammates will try to keep the trophy in-house, beginning with the weekend’s qualifying round.
Six Cavaliers are among the top 16 seeds, including top-seeded senior Jarmere Jenkins and No. 3-seed sophomore Justin Shane. Freshman Mitchell Polnet, who won the U.Va. Fall Classic Oct. 7 sits as the No. 14 seed.
Junior Alex Domijan previously qualified for the National Indoors by capturing the ITA All-American Championships and can consequently bypass this weekend’s matches.