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WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. Several members of the Virginia men’s tennis team have prepped for the upcoming collegiate season by competing in the USTA Futures Circuit Event outside Tampa. Senior Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) advanced to the singles quarterfinals, while he and partner Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) will play in the doubles final.
Devvarman was one of three Cavaliers to advance from qualifying to reach the 32-player main draw and Huey received a wild card into the field. The reigning NCAA singles champion defeated Cavalier teammate Ted Angelinos (Athens, Greece) in three sets in the opening round before topping No. 8 seed Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador, ranked No. 396 in the world, 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday. Lapentti won his first round match over Virginia’s Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.). Huey fell in the opening round to top-seeded Dusan Vemic of Serbia.
In Friday’s quarterfinals Devvarman will meet a familiar face, Todd Paul. Paul was a standout at Wake Forest from 2004-07 and the two played numerous times in their collegiate career, with Devvarman posting a 4-0 record in the series.
In doubles, Huey and Devvarman will look to repeat as champions of the event. On Thursday they topped No. 1 seed Ryler DeHeart and Tim Smyczek in straight sets. In the final on Friday they will meet No. 2 seed Ladislav Chramosta and Daniel Lustig, who defeated the Virginia team of Barrick and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) in the other semifinal.
The tournament continues through Sunday at the Saddlebrook Resort.