Roger Federer. Andy Roddick. Michael Shabaz?
Virginia was not without representation as the world's best tennis players descended on New York City last week for the U.S. Open, tennis' final major championship of the calendar year. Although Shabaz and partner Wayne Odesnik lost in the first round to fellow Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey, simply playing in the Open was a significant feat that marked the end of a very successful summer that began with winning the National Championship in doubles in May.
The top players in the world automatically qualify for the Open and thus have weeks to prepare beforehand, but the circumstances for Shabaz's entry were not quite as conventional. He only discovered that he had been given a wild card entry the night before the tournament began.
"The wild cards are usually announced for doubles the day of, or the day before - so I was just hanging around, waiting and waiting and I talked to one of my buddies [Odesnik] who turned pro several years ago," Shabaz said. "He didn't have a partner so I signed in with him, and the USTA gave us the wild card, which was pretty sweet."
Shabaz was the first active Virginia tennis player to play in a major championship. Former Cavalier great Somdev Devvarman also qualified for this year's Open, winning his first match in the singles draw before losing his second.
Now entering his junior year, Shabaz will try to follow up on a season that, on top of the NCAA doubles title, included being named to the ITA All-Star team.
Meanwhile, expectations will once again be high for the Virginia men's tennis team as it begins its 2009-10 campaign this weekend at the U.Va. Classic. While not all of the team's top players will play this weekend, the classic will be "a great opportunity for a lot of these guys to get some matches, and some of them definitely need to practice matches and stuff so we'll see how they can do," Virginia coach Brian Boland said.
This year's team, like last year's, comes highly regarded, featuring seven singles players ranked in the ITA preseason top 125, highlighted by No. 9 junior Sanam Singh and No. 14 Shabaz.
The Cavs also have high hopes for freshman Jarmere Jenkins, the top-rated incoming American recruit, who will most likely step in as Inglot's replacement in doubles.
"He's just a naturally good doubles player," Shabaz said. "We just have to get comfortable with each other."
If this new duo can figure out how to play successfully together, the Cavaliers will feature two strong doubles teams to complement a very deep singles lineup.
"I think this year might be the deepest team," Shabaz said. "Each guy can play on almost any team in the country."
The No. 17 doubles team of Shabaz and Jenkins might be overshadowed by the pairing of Singh and senior Houston Barrick, which enters the season as the No. 4 doubles team.
"I think without question they're one of the best teams in the country," Boland said. "Their games complement one another on the court."
All of these factors - team depth, experience and above all, talent - give the Cavaliers reason to believe that their 2009-10 season will be a special one, and one that could lead to the national championship that has eluded them the last two seasons.
"Our expectations each and every year are to win a national championship," Boland said. "I think our veteran leadership is going to make a huge difference for us"
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