Senior Michael Shabaz completed an eight-match run to the finals of the Virginia National Bank Tennis Championships Sunday with a 6-2, 6-3 loss against No. 149 Robert Kendrick. With his performance, Shabaz will climb more than 1,200 spots in the world rankings to about No. 525.
Shabaz was unranked heading into the ATP Challenger Tour tournament and needed to win three qualifying matches to enter the main draw. He knocked off three players ranked in the top 225 en route to his second-place finish.
Former All-American Somdev Devvarman, currently ranked No. 94 in the world, was the second seed in the singles draw. He fell to Chris Guccione of Australia in the quarterfinals.
After dispatching Giovanni Lapentti and Ryan Harrison in the first two rounds, Shabaz took care of fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan in the quarterfinals, 7-6, 6-1. Nishikori was ranked as high as No. 56 in the world rankings last year and reached the third round of the 2010 U.S. Open. Shabaz then avenged Devvarman's defeat with a 7-6, 6-3 victory against Guccione in the semifinals before falling to Kendrick.
-compiled by Andrew Seidman
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