The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team will bid for a consecutive undefeated regular season this weekend on the road against No. 25 Wake Forest and No. 51 North Carolina State.
With a win Friday in Winston-Salem, the Cavaliers (24-0, 9-0 ACC) will clinch sole possession of the ACC title. The Demon Deacons (17-7, 7-2 ACC) have won five of their last six matches, however, including a 4-2 home victory against No. 16 Florida State, which took Virginia to the wire two weeks ago in Tallahassee. Wake’s top two singles players, No. 21 senior Cory Parr and junior Steve Forman, led the way with victories against No. 11 junior Jean-Yves Aubone and No. 49 sophomore Clint Bowles, respectively.
Virginia senior Dominic Inglot and sophomore Sanam Singh did not fare as well in the top lines against the Seminoles, each falling in three sets. After returning home last week to play then-No. 25 Duke and then-No. 39 North Carolina, however, Inglot rediscovered his stroke with victories against two top-40 opponents.
The match “was a great reflection of his character,” Virginia coach Brian Boland said. “By the way that match turned out and how he was able to get down a set and a break and battle back, find a way back in the match and then play a really good super-tiebreaker.”
While Parr will most likely pose a challenge to Inglot in No. 1 singles, the Cavaliers may have to focus more on their doubles play. Virginia dropped the doubles point last Friday against Duke for the first time in more than a month and only the second time this season, losing in both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Although the pair of Singh and junior Houston Barrick — ranked No. 6 nationally — bounced back Sunday against North Carolina, Inglot and sophomore partner Michael Shabaz — ranked No. 14 — continued to struggle, losing 5-8.
“Me and Dom just have to be a little more consistent — I think we’re too erratic at times,” Shabaz said. “Sometimes we’re making them play and sometimes we’re hitting the back fence with shots.”
Inglot said the pair needs to start strong — both in their serves and returns — to avoid another letdown.
“The times we struggle is when we put ourselves in a hole early on ... we get broken early,” Inglot said. “The three times we’ve lost this year, we got broken straight away, and there’s actually been so many times we’ve pulled it out after being broken- but that doesn’t help.”
Boland tried switching around the lineup against the Tar Heels, placing the default No. 1 team Singh and Barrick in No. 2 doubles, while Inglot and Shabaz moved to the top slot. Whoever plays in No. 1 doubles against Wake Forest will have their hands full against top-ranked tandem Parr and Forman.
“Wake have the No. 1 doubles team in the country ... they’re gonna pose a threat,” Inglot said. “We’re gonna have to start out with doubles — get that doubles point — and try to make our way through.”
The Demon Deacon duo also has struggled recently, however, dropping its last three matches against North Carolina, Florida State and N.C. State. Wake Forest’s lower-seeded doubles teams have compensated for the slide with clutch victories of their own, however, meaning Virginia freshman Drew Courtney and junior Lee Singer may need to continue their stellar play in the No. 3 spot to help grab the doubles point for the Cavaliers. The pair has compiled a 18-4 record thus far, including a crucial win against the Tar Heels to clinch the doubles point last Sunday.
Singer may be needed in singles as well, given the recent struggles of freshman Steven Eelkman Rooda. Boland inserted Singer into the singles lineup for the last match, and said he was pleased with the junior’s performance.
“I’m trying to give Lee as many opportunities as he can,” Boland said. “He has a lot of potential and has an awful lot of experience, so we feel like Lee can do great things for us if he’s asked to play. The great thing about Lee is he’s always ready — he’s dealt with an awful lot of adversity.”
The Cavaliers will continue play Sunday against N.C. State (9-12, 3-6 ACC) in its final regular season match. The Wolfpack enters the contest with a five-game losing streak, including three home defeats. Despite the slide, it still sits safely in 10th place in the ACC, ahead of Maryland and winless Boston College. If Virginia meets expectations and pulls out a victory, it will head into tournament play as the only undefeated team in the nation.
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