Virginia’s Michael Shabaz and Jarmere Jenkins, the top two seeds in this weekend’s regional ITA Atlantic Regional tournament at UVa’s Snyder Tennis Center, made their way into the singles final by defeating their own teammates in the semifinals on Saturday.
Shabaz, a senior and a two-time NCAA doubles champion, defeated UVa sophomore Julen Uriguen, 6-1, 6-4. Jenkins, a sophomore from Atlanta, had a tougher time of it ousting freshman teammate Justin Shane, 6-4, 7-5.
Play began Wednesday with 112 players from 23 colleges. UVa flexed its muscles by seizing all four semifinal spots with Shabaz, Jenkins, Uriguen and Shane collectively losing only a single set in competition with regional foes.
Shabaz likely will default to his roommate, Jenkins, in today’s final. The senior is nursing a mild case of the flu and will likely get a wild-card spot in the ITA Nationals, set for Nov. 4-7 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., due to his No. 6 national ranking. He sealed his spot in the tournament by reaching the quarterfinals at Snyder.
Jenkins must win the championship today to reach the national tournament. Shabaz defaulted to Jenkins in a similar situation in last year’s regionals.
Three other Cavaliers will join Jenkins and Shabaz in Flushing Meadows. Freshman Alex Domijan, senior Sanam Singh and junior Drew Courtney earned spots in the main draw by reaching the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American tournament in Tulsa, Okla., two weeks ago.
The 6-foot-7 Domijan became only the third player in college tennis history to win the ITA All-American championship in his first season as a collegiate player. Domijan, unseeded in the tournament, cruised to the finals without dropping a set.
Uriguen and Shane both had successful weekends despite their semifinal losses. Shabaz had high praise for Uriguen after his victory.
“Julen rolled his ankle a week ago,” he said. “He’s had a cast on for a week. It’s amazing that he had such a good tournament. It was really a good week for him.”
The doubles final will also be an all-UVa affair, with Domijan and Jenkins squaring off against Singh and Steven Eelkman Rooda. Domijan and Jenkins defeated Penn State’s Eddie Bouchier and Jason Lee, 8-4, in the quarterfinals before beating Maryland’s Maros Horny and John Collins, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, in the semifinals.
Singh and Rooda picked up an 8-6 quarterfinal victory over George Washington’s Erik Hannah and Ugur Atalay before beating Radford’s Thomas Dehaen and Ivan Salec, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals.
Today’s finals will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center. Admission is free.
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