Boar’s Head hosts tennis stars

For a Charlottesville tennis fan, it probably doesn’t get much better than the $50,000 Virginia National Bank Men’s Tennis Championships that kick off today with qualifying rounds at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

The tournament will not only feature some of the top pro players in the world — including former top-20 player Vince Spadea — but will have a huge local flavor in the form of 11 players who either played at Virginia or are still in the program. Most notable among that group is former Virginia star Somdev Devvarman, the two-time NCAA singles champion.

“We’re really excited,” said Boar’s Head Sports Club Tournament Director Ron Manilla. “It’s about as good of a draw as we could hope for. It’s going to be really, really good. We’re really excited.”

Qualifying action, which is free and open to the public, runs today and Sunday. The main draw, which costs $7 per day ($5 for Boar’s Head members), begins on Monday.

Devvarman will be making his triumpharant return to Charlottesville. The Chennai, India native, who had a great summer — including a win over No. 15 Marin Cilic at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington — is currently ranked No. 121 and has earned over $192,000 in prize money. Devvarman’s first-round match is scheduled for Tuesday.

Meanwhile, current Wahoos Sanam Singh, Michael Shabaz, Jarmere Jenkins and Lee Singer are also expected to compete in singles.

Teddy Angelinos, a 2008 grad who has come on strong on the tour of late — he recently won an event in Turkey — is also in as a wild card.

“The guy’s been on fire,” Boland said. “I’m so proud of what he’s accomplished.”

Participating as wild-card entrants in doubles will be former players Dom Inglot, Rylan Rizza and Treat Huey. Inglot and Rizza will be playing together in the featured match on Monday night.

Boland said he is extremely grateful to the Boar’s Head for allowing the Virginia program so many wild cards.

“This event is a tremendous opportunity for our program and our players to compete against the best players in the world,” Boland said. “The University of Virginia tennis program and Charlottesville tennis community benefit tremendously from this event coming to our city.

“It’s incredibly gratifying as a coach to see former players go on and have such success. The things they’re doing on tour — I’m so proud of all of them.”

Note

Matches begin today at 10 a.m. and run all day. ... There will be a free clinic for kids of all ages on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The event will be followed by a pizza party.