Virginia arrived at the ITA Atlantic Regional in Blacksburg, Va. this week without its top player, yet still walked away with three NCAA Individual Championship bids. First-year Luca Preda, second-year Andres Santamarta Roig and third-year Jangjun Kim all earned spots in the NCAA Individual Championships in November, with Santamarta Roig qualifying in both singles and doubles.
Fourth-year Dylan Dietrich, the No. 1 ranked player in the country, skipped the regional — one of his few remaining chances to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships in November — to compete at the Columbus Challenger, where he won his first ATP title. It is a decision that raises the same question that hovered over Columbia’s Michael Zheng last season, whether Dietrich — who would be chasing an NCAA triple crown — will find a path to qualify for Athens before the window closes.
Virginia’s weekend campaign opened Thursday with qualifying singles, where two Cavaliers entered the draw looking to earn their way into the main event.
Fourth-year Stefan Regalia opened with a composed 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Navy sophomore Lachlan Buckingham, using his serve to set up balls and his forehand to finish points cleanly. He fell in the qualifying quarterfinals to Richmond graduate student Andreas Chapides 6-2, 6-4, dropping out of the main draw. Fifth-year Ty Switzer had a difficult qualifying draw, falling in his opening match to James Madison third-year Zachary Fleishman 6-4, 6-2 before bouncing back in the consolation draw with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Midshipmen freshman James Thomson.
In doubles, Switzer and Regalia paired up and opened with an 8-5 win over Morgan State sophomore Ilya Maltsev and senior Abdulraheem Isa, before falling 8-6 to Virginia Tech seniors Carson Baker and Ilyas Fahim in the Round of 32.
When the main draw action began Friday, Virginia’s four seeded players wasted no time. Santamarta Roig, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, opened with a 6-4, 6-1 win over VCU freshman Yassin Wageh. Third-year Stiles Brockett, the No. 5 seed, took down Rams senior Theo Mottier 6-3, 6-2 in a similarly controlled performance. Preda, the No. 3 seed, was impressive in his 6-2, 6-3 win over Hokie junior Gevorg Mnatsakanyan, and Kim, the No. 2 seed, defeated Dukes first-year Riccardo Ciulli 6-3, 7-5.
In doubles, Santamarta Roig and Kim opened their campaign with an 8-2 win over George Mason redshirt Egor Zakharov and sophomore Adria Franco, while Brockett and Preda were equally dominant in their 8-2 win over William and Mary freshman Omar Rhazali and sophomore Dylan Chou.
Saturday’s Round of 32 and Round of 16 produced four more wins across the board. Santamarta Roig defeated Virginia Tech junior Blake HIlsen 6-3, 6-1 and then Tribe senior Oliver Hague 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Brockett took down Liberty fifth-year Chase Robinson 7-6 (3), 6-2 and Spider senior Paxton Pritchard 6-3, 6-2. Preda defeated James Madison sixth-year Ryan Morgan 6-4, 6-1 and Flames junior Benjamin Sparks 7-6 (3), 6-2. Kim was dominant throughout, beating Hokie sophomore Nicolas Iantosca 6-3, 6-0 and Rhazali 6-1, 6-2.
In doubles, Santamarta Roig and Kim had more of a battle against Longwood sophomore duo Marc Ferrando Farras and Rodrigo Guijarro Martin, but ultimately pulled through 8-5. On the other court, Brockett and Preda had a similarly challenging fight, dropping six games to Mnatsakanyan and Iantosca.
Sunday’s quarterfinals produced another four Virginia wins. Santamarta Roig defeated Virginia Tech junior Eyal Shumilov 6-4, 6-2, where his heavy baseline game proved too consistent for Shumilov to handle over two sets. He dictated from the back of the court with his crosscourt forehand, pulling Shumilov wide and finishing points before his opponent could reset. Brockett took down VCU sophomore Patrik Petera 6-2, 6-3 with clean tennis, committing to his baseline groundstrokes. Preda defeated Old Dominion fourth-year Piet Steveker 6-1, 6-3, using his aggressive return game to disrupt Steveker’s serve and build early leads in both sets.
Kim’s quarterfinal against Hokie sophomore Drew Fishback was the match of the day. After taking the first set 6-3 with patient and precise tennis, targeting Fishback’s backhand, Kim dropped the second set in a tiebreak 6-7 (5) as Fishback began redirecting with more confidence. In the third, Kim leaned on his backhand slides to change pace when Fishback got comfortable, and ultimately closed out 7-5 to advance.
In Sunday’s doubles, Santamarta Roig and Kim took down Rams junior duo Leon Zaorski and Nicolo Consonni with a 8-3 solid win in the quarterfinals before defeating William Mary’s Hague and fifth-year Conno Kruger 6-2, 6-3 combining well at the net to close out points. Brockett and Preda first defeated Liberty freshman Angel Veliz and junior Siwanat Autayakul before unfortunately falling in the semifinal against Hilsen and Shumilov, losing 6-3, 6-7 (6), 14-12 in a match tiebreak. The pair fought back from a first set deficit to level the match and pushed the tiebreak to the wire before Virginia Tech edged them out.
Monday’s all-Virginia singles semifinals produced two hard-fought three-set matches. In the first, Santamarta Roig defeated Brockett 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to earn his NCAA singles qualification. Santamarta Roig was dominant in the first set, his forehand giving Brockett little time to settle. Brockett, however, found his game in the second set, hitting cleaner groundstrokes and breaking Santamarta Roig’s rhythm to take it 3-6, but the second-year reasserted himself in the third, raising his level on the big points and closing it out 6-1.
In the other semifinal, Preda defeated Kim 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the more surprising result of the day. Kim took the first set convincingly, stepping into his forehand early and putting Preda under pressure from the opening games. Preda adjusted in the second, finding more depth on his groundstrokes and trusting his serve to hold, taking it 6-4. In the third, the first-year was the stronger player, finishing it off 6-1 to earn his first NCAA individual championship qualification.
The doubles final was the most dramatic match of the entire week. After dropping the first set in a tiebreak 6-7 (3), Santamarta Roig and Kim responded with a composed 6-4 second set to level the match. The match tiebreak was tight throughout, with both pairs trading momentum before the Cavalier duo closed it out 10-8 to claim the regional doubles title and earn Kim his NCAA Doubles Championship qualification.
The results now put Virginia at four players in Athens this November. Santamarta Roig earned both a singles and doubles bid for his first NCAA individual appearance. Preda also earned his first NCAA individual appearance with his singles qualification. Kim will compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship alongside Santamarta Roig in his first NCAA Doubles tournament. Third-year Keegan Rice, who qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship at the ITA All-American in September, will join the rest of the Cavalier squad. Virginia’s remaining players will have one last chance to qualify at the ITA Sectionals.
Margaret Jane Piatos is a senior associate on the sports desk. She is a fourth-year College student, majoring in Political Philosophy, Policy and Law. Margaret is from San Marino, Calif., and she enjoys covering men's and women's tennis.
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