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Cavaliers Advance to NCAA Singles and Doubles Quarterfinals
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May 25, 2007
ATHENS, Ga. – The Virginia men’s tennis team had a singles player and doubles team advance to quarterfinals of the NCAA Individual Championships Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Junior Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) advanced in the singles draw, while Devvarman and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) advanced in the doubles draw.
Second-seeded Devvarman cruised into the quarterfinals, needing just an hour and 15 minutes to top 9-16 seed Travis Helgeson of Georgia, 6-1, 6-2. He opened the match strong, winning the first five games of the match before Helgeson held serve to make the score 5-1. Devvarman held at love in the next game to close out the opening set, 6-1. In the first game of the second set, Devvarman broke Helgeson again and held that advantage to 2-1 in the set. Helgeson had a chance to get back on serve in the set as he went up 15-40, but Devvarman won the next four points to take a 3-1 lead. Devvarman used that momentum to break Helgeson again in the next game for a 4-1 lead and held serve the rest of the match to close out the 6-1, 6-2 victory. He is the only one of last year’s NCAA quarterfinalists to reach the quarterfinals again this season.
“I felt good going into the match, but I knew Travis is a really good player,” Devvarman said. “He seemed uncomfortable in the first set for some reason and I took some chances and made the best of my opportunities. I feel like I am playing well and that I have improved my game from last season. I know I will need to keep playing at a high level tomorrow against a tough player in Brugues.”
The win was Devvarman’s 41st singles win of the season, setting a new school record. Brian Vahaly had won 40 singles matches during the 2001 season to establish the previous record. The victory was Devvarman’s ninth career NCAA Singles Championship win, tying him with Vahaly for the most career NCAA Singles Tournament wins in ACC history. He also joins Vahaly, Duke’s Phillip King, and North Carolina’s Roland Thornqvist as the only ACC players to reach the NCAA quarterfinals twice in their career.
Devvarman and Huey, the No. 2 seed in the doubles draw, downed No. 15 ranked Harel Srugo and Henrique Cancado of Old Dominion 6-1, 6-3 in a second round match. After the Monarch team held serve in the first game of the match, Devvarman and Huey rolled off six consecutive games to take the first set 6-1. The second set remained on serve until the Cavalier duo, leading 4-3, broke Cancado’s serve to take a 5-3 lead. Huey then held serve in the next game to finish the 6-1, 6-3 win.
“I think we played well again today,” Huey said. “We did a good job of serving and held serve pretty easily. We returned much better today, especially in the first set, and made them play at the net. In the second set, we played a great game at 4-3 to get the break. Overall, we just made the most of our chances.”
With the victory, Devvarman and Huey become just the second Cavalier doubles team to ever reach the NCAA Quarterfinals. Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery reached the NCAA Semifinals in Athens in 2001.
Devvarman will meet Arnau Brugues of Tulsa in the quarterfinals on Saturday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Brugues, the No. 6 seed, defeated Andre Begemann of Pepperdine 7-6, 6-4 in the round of 16 on Friday. Devvarman and Huey will play Erling Tveit and Eric Claesson of Mississippi in the quarterfinals. The Ole Miss team upset No. 5-8 seed Josh Cohen and Luigi D’Agord of Miami 6-3, 7-5 in the round of 16.