Dominic Inglot would not be denied a victory on his senior day. After he and sophomore partner Michael Shabaz lost to North Carolina in doubles for the second consecutive match, Inglot made a stand.
“Senior day, last day here, regular season — I didn’t want to lose two matches in a day,” Inglot said. “I haven’t done that all year, and I didn’t want that to be the first on senior day. I really just tried to figure a way to win ... and go out with a bang.”
Despite the motivation that spurred on the No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team (24-0, 9-0 ACC), No. 17 Inglot’s comeback did not come easily against North Carolina’s No. 35 junior Clay Donato. Inglot dropped the first set 5-7 and trailed for much of the second set.
“It was really warm today, so the tension in my racket was pretty loose,” Inglot said. “I was serving really big, I just couldn’t make any ground strikes — everything was flying.”
With the chance to win his last home match slipping away, Inglot altered his strategy. Trailing 2-3 in the second set, he said he could no longer sit back on his returns.
“I just told coach, ‘Listen, I’m just gonna try to come to the net on everything, even off this serve, because it’s just not working me staying in the back,’” Inglot said. “‘I can’t rally right now, and he’s just waiting for me to make mistakes. I’m gonna make the slice, come in, and let’s see if he can pass — let’s make him step up and win this match.’”
Inglot’s new strategy proved effective, as he broke Donato to tie the set at 3-3. The senior then grabbed the next three games to win the set 6-3. Riding the momentum gained from winning four consecutive games, Inglot burst out to a 3-0 lead in tiebreakers, and went on to win 10-7.
“I think he didn’t expect that,” Inglot said. “I felt that was the momentum shift right there. It was 3-2, he was serving and I got the break to go 3-3. I felt really good ... I knew that was the game tactic to carry on.”
No. 20 Shabaz also bounced back from both a disappointing day Friday against Duke and the loss in doubles against No. 39 North Carolina (14-7, 3-5 ACC) to play nearly flawless tennis in singles against junior Andrew Crone. Shabaz jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first set and never trailed, winning each set by a 6-2 margin.
“Right now I’m feeling really good,” Shabaz said. “I was serving well — and when I serve well, usually if I can get on a few returns, it makes my life a lot easier. I felt like the ball was coming off my racket nicely, so I could kind of bully him around the court.”
Virginia coach Brian Boland said Shabaz’s performance in singles was encouraging after he struggled in the previous match against Duke.
“Michael had a really off-day on Friday ... he was extremely frustrated ... and came ready to play today,” Boland said. “They were a little shaky in doubles, but with all that being said, Michael was extraordinarily sharp in singles — I think everybody saw that. He must have hit 20-25 aces. He was moving well and completely engaged in the match.”
The success for the Cavaliers continued further down in the lineup with the play of freshman Drew Courtney and junior Lee Singer. Playing in No. 3 doubles, the tandem clinched the point with an 8-5 win, rendering the Inglot/Shabaz loss irrelevant. Singer and Courtney then grabbed the first two singles points with 6-4, 6-2, and 6-2, 6-2 victories, respectively.
“You gotta give a lot of credit to Lee Singer ... he stepped in and did an excellent job,” Boland said. “And of course, Drew Courtney — he just keeps getting better. What a freshman campaign he’s had.”
Sophomore Sanam Singh and junior Houston Barrick completed the 7-0 victory for Virginia, which notched its 10th shut-out this season.
In Friday’s match against No. 25 Duke (12-6, 5-3 ACC), Virginia dropped its first doubles point since Feb. 14 against UCLA. Although the pair of Singer and Courtney grabbed the first doubles match for the Cavaliers by a score of 8-3, Duke stole the next two to win the point.
The Cavaliers immediately bounced back in singles, however, winning the first three points. No. 25 Singh quickly put away No. 55 senior Kiril Dimitrov in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. In the No. 1 spot, Inglot defeated No. 38 sophomore Reid Carleton, 7-6, 6-0. Courtney’s 6-3, 7-5 win extended the lead, which proved to be insurmountable. Barrick sealed the 4-3 Virginia victory with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the fourth slot.
The Cavaliers will head to Wake Forest and N.C. State next weekend in their final tune-up before the ACC tournament.
Notes: Seniors Nick Meros and Leif Sunderland also were honored at the intermission of the North Carolina match ... Singer replaced freshman Steven Eelkman Rooda in singles ... Inglot’s singles win against Duke broke a two-game slide.
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