Virginia men’s tennis dominate first tournament after NCAA Championship

Fresh off an NCAA Championship and a Saturday night ring ceremony celebrating it, Virginia men’s tennis used its first tournament of the fall at Boar’s Head Sports Club to ease back into competition, experiment with doubles pairings and introduce new faces to college tennis. Yet the adjustments did little to slow the Cavaliers as first-year Luca Preda and third-year Stiles Brockett both went undefeated in singles across a dominant three-day showing.

Virginia opened the tournament Friday against Old Dominion opponents, splitting its two doubles matches before sweeping all four singles matches. Preda and Brockett gave the Cavaliers their first victory of the weekend together, grinding out a 7-6(5) win over fourth-year Piet Steveker and third-year Ilias Worthington. On the neighboring court, second-year Andres Santamart Roig and fifth-year Ty Switzer had a more difficult start, ultimately falling 6-2 to second-year duo Zech Hamrouni and Felix Obermair.

Any early inconsistency in doubles disappeared once singles began. Virginia went a perfect 4-0, three of which finished in only two sets. Preda made his collegiate singles debut, dispatching third-year JK Olivier de Sardan 6-2, 6-2, while Brockett sped through his opening set against Obermair before closing out 6-1, 7-5. Santamarta Roig faced a closer battle against Hamrouni, but overcame a first set tiebreak to complete the match 7-6(3), 6-4.

Third-year Jangjun Kim had the longest battle of the afternoon. After dominating Steveker 6-1 in the first set, Kim dropped the second 7-5. However, Kim bounced back and took the third 6-4, completing Virginia’s Friday singles sweep and setting an early tone for yet another dominating weekend.

This momentum continued to Saturday, even as Virginia kept experimenting with doubles combinations. Kim teamed up with fourth-year Stefan Regalia for a convincing 6-3 win over Duke’s sophomore Dylan Long and freshman Jakub Smejcky. Meanwhile, Switzer paired up with fourth-year Dylan Dietrich in a closer match against Penn’s sophomore Nischal Spurling and senior Parashar Bharadwaj, ultimately falling 7-6(2) in the tiebreak.

Yet singles once again proved to be Virginia’s strength.

Santamarta Roig opened against Long and appeared in control after taking the first set 6-3, only for Long to answer 7-5 in the second set. But rather than allow the match to get any closer, Santamarta Roig took complete control and won the third set 6-0 to secure his second singles victory of the weekend.

Preda was just as commanding. Facing Spurling, the first-year lost only two games in a 6-2, 6-0 victory, improving to a 2-0 record in singles.

Brockett followed with another straight set win, defeating Penn’s sophomore Adam Bain 6-1, 6-3. Through two days, Brockett dropped just 10 games across four singles sets, setting up Sunday with both Brockett and Preda still unbeaten and Virginia yet to lose a singles match.

Virginia closed out its weekend of fall tennis Sunday, splitting a pair of doubles matches against James Madison before turning to a singles slate spread across Virginia Tech, Princeton and James Madison opposition, winning three of the five matches contested.

The doubles session opened with contrasting fortunes across the two courts in play. On one court, Switzer and Brockett looked sharp from the jump against JMU's third-year Zachary Fleishman and third-year Gur Libal. Switzer's crisp net play paired well with steady serving from Brockett, and the duo cruised to a 6-2 win, never giving their opponents a foothold in the set.

The other court told a different story. Santamarta Roig and Regalia struggled to find any rhythm together against second-year Kaua Lopes Cressoni and first-year Riccardo Ciulli, missing shots long, wide and at the net in what looked like a simple off day for the pairing. Still getting used to playing alongside each other, they fell 6-2, evening the doubles ledger at a match apiece.

Singles brought a slow start across the board, with more than a little frustration on display early in several matches before things turned decisively in Virginia's favor.

Preda set the tone on Court 3 against Virginia Tech's junior Eyal Shumilov. After trailing 0-3 in a first set that was far more competitive than the scoreline suggested, Preda found his rhythm, chasing down everything his opponent threw at him. He clawed all the way back to force a decisive break and closed out the set 7-5, wearing his opponent down in the process. He carried that momentum into the second set, breaking out crisp serving and a variety of drop shots and jumping out 1-0 before Shumilov was forced to retire due to injury, handing Preda the win.

Santamarta Roig had a much longer day on Court 1 against Virginia Tech's senior Ilyas Milad Fahim. The first set was a back-and-forth battle of forehands with neither player giving an inch, but frustration mounted as Santamarta Roig found himself pushed all over the court, eventually dropping the set 6-2. He rallied in the second, fighting through a slow start and finding his confidence again behind a couple of explosive forehands down the line to take it 6-4. But Fahim turned the tables in the decider, stepping up his level to close it out 6-2 and take the match.

On Court 5, Switzer ran it back against Libal, the same opponent he and Brockett had bested in doubles. This time however, he couldn't quite get over the hump, dropping both sets 6-4, 6-3 after tight stretches slipped away from him late.

Kim delivered perhaps the performance of the day on Court 4 against Princeton's first-year JunHao Luo, locked in a first set full of the longest rallies of any court. Kim's precision picking out corners with his forehand kept him in it through a 6-6 deadlock, and he came through in the tiebreak to snatch the opener 7-6. He carried that form into the second set, looking nearly unbeatable from the baseline as he pulled away for a 6-2 win to close out his match.

In the final match of the day, Brockett returned from his doubles win with an even better showing in singles on Court 2 against Virginia Tech's senior Carson Baker. After a shaky start saw him fall behind in the first set 6-4, his resilience and serving kept him competitive before he ultimately dropped it. He flipped the script in the second, racing out to a 3-0 lead and painting the lines with both forehands and backhands en route to a comfortable 6-1 set win, backed by a strong return game. The decider was tight throughout, but Brockett came through late to close it out 6-4.

With the doubles point split and Virginia taking three of the five singles matches, the Cavaliers' depth down the lineup proved the difference on a day that started slowly but ended in their favor.

After a weekend of experimentation and new faces, Virginia now turns its attention to ITA All-American Championships September 19-27, their first opportunity of the season to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships. With reigning NCAA doubles champion Dietrich among a roster already loaded with championship experience, Virginia will enter Tulsa with proven veterans and emerging talent. If the Orange & Blue Classic was meant to ease the defending national champions back into competition, the Cavaliers leave Charlottesville looking more than ready for what comes next.

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