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This week the Virginia men’s tennis returns to action after a two-week break. The top-ranked Cavaliers visit Maryland on Friday before hosting No. 8 Baylor and Gardner-Webb on Sunday. VirginiaSports.com caught up with junior Sanam Singh to discuss the team, this week’s matches and his recent trip to Russia with the Indian Davis Cup Team.

Question: You are coming off a two-week break. What does having that break do for the team?

Singh: These breaks divide it up into kind of two or three smaller seasons, which I feel is really good for our players. I feel like we come back from this break really refreshed, having had a few days off, still working out a little bit, but kind of hanging up the racquets for maybe three or four days. I feel like all of us come back wanting it so much more. Sometimes if we play during spring break, we can get a little drained. This was coach’s idea, to give the players a little bit of a break after the first two months of the season. It has worked in the past, so hopefully we can continue our success this year, too.

Question: This week you go to Maryland to get back into ACC play and then you have a big match on Sunday against Baylor. What are you expecting from these matches?

Singh: Maryland is an ACC match and this year a lot of ACC teams are better, like Virginia Tech and UNC, Duke, Wake, really everyone. We cannot take any match lightly so we are going to go to Maryland and play to the best of our ability. Then we will get ready for a good Baylor team on Sunday.

Question: A couple weeks ago you got a chance to go to Russia as part of the Indian Davis Cup team. What was that experience like for you?

Singh: It was great. That was my first time as part of the [Davis Cup] team, to just be with those guys. To be around players like Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, and of couse Somdev [Devvarman], it was a great experience. It was a lot of fun, even though I didn’t get a chance to play. At least now the [Indian Tennis] association knows that I’m playing well. Hopefully next time I’ll get a chance to play. It was great for me to go there and hang out with everyone, practice with them and get my chance.

Question: There was a rumor that they made you sing at the banquet as part of your Davis Cup initiation. Any truth to that?

Singh: Yeah, that was a little unfortunate, but I played along. Again, I was a little nervous at the start and then I got into it. After that I was a little too much into it, and then everyone started cracking up. It was a lot of fun and a good memory. I sang “Save Tonight”, which isn’t exactly my song, not that any song is.

Question: The new individual rankings came out this week and the team has eight singles players and seven doubles team combinations ranked. What does that say about the talent on the roster?

Singh: It’s pretty unbelievable. It’s special to have that many guys ranked. I feel everyone deserves it though, because every guy on this team puts in so much work. It doesn’t matter if they’re playing in the top six or if they’re number 12 on the team. I feel every guy who is ranked deserves to be ranked, and that shows that our team is working hard and can go places, and hopefully achieve our ultimate goal at the end of the season.

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