Though playing the likes of North Carolina and Duke in basketball in the same weekend might be challenging, the Virginia men’s tennis team will likely face less resistance when it faces the two conference rivals today and Sunday.
Although the Blue Devils (12-5, 5-2 ACC) and the Tar Heels (13-6, 2-4 ACC) have had relatively successful seasons thus far, neither boasts an undefeated record like the No. 1 Cavaliers.
The No. 25 Blue Devils come to Charlottesville riding a four-game winning streak, despite recent troubles at No. 1 singles. Duke’s top player — No. 35 sophomore Reid Carleton — has struggled outdoors, dropping four of his last seven matches.
No. 39 North Carolina, meanwhile, sits in the middle of the pack in the ACC standings, after losing four of its last six conference matches. A bright spot for the Tar Heels has been the strong play of junior Clay Donato, who could pose a challenge to the Cavaliers at No. 1 singles. Donato, ranked No. 35 nationally, has won three consecutive singles matches and took Miami’s Willie Aubone to three sets before finally succumbing in the final set, 10-8. Donato squared off with Duke’s Carleton Tuesday at Chapel Hill. Despite his team’s 2-5 loss, Donato handled Carleton easily, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 4-0.
“The top of the [North Carolina] lineup is pretty strong,” Virginia coach Brian Boland said.
The Cavaliers (22-0, 7-0 ACC) must handle these top players from both teams this weekend to keep their perfect record intact. But the wear and tear of a long season has begun to catch up with Virginia, which barely pulled out a pair of 4-3 victories against Miami and Florida State on the road last weekend.
“It was a long week and a lot of traveling,” senior Dominic Inglot said. “It starts taking a toll a little bit — you try to muscle everything rather than time it well.”
Similar to Duke’s Carleton, Inglot dropped both No. 1 singles matches for the Cavaliers. The two players share similar losses, as well; both fell to then-No. 20 junior Jean Yves-Aubone of Florida State and then-No. 29 senior Daniel Vallverdu of Miami, who are now both ranked in the top 15.
Inglot suffered a torn-rotator cuff last season and the shoulder pain recently resurfaced, which may be to blame for his recent slide.
“The shoulder’s a little tight,” Inglot said. “But I just need to get back and do a little rehab and I should be fine.”
This recent inconsistency at No. 1 singles may be the most glaring flaw on a top-ranked, undefeated team. During its six outdoor contests thus far, Virginia dropped four points in the top singles slot. Although this struggle has not yet cost the Cavaliers a match, it is still cause for concern as the postseason approaches and the competition intensifies.
“It’s nothing I really want to think about it too much,” Inglot said. “I just want to get over it and then just move forward to Friday and Sunday and try to make up for it and help the team out in singles.”
No. 20 sophomore Michael Shabaz, on the other hand, who has won four consecutive singles matches, said he now feels rejuvenated after falling sick earlier in the season. “I’m feeling a little healthier,” Shabaz said. “Guys go in patches during the season [because] the season’s so long — right now I’m on a winning patch.”
Inglot, ranked No. 17 nationally, will look to overcome his own losing patch this weekend when the team takes on Duke and North Carolina.
“[Inglot] will be ready to play this weekend,” Boland said, “and I think we’ll see a better performance from [Inglot] than we did last weekend.”
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