Cavs take on UGA

By Whitey Reid

Published: May 19, 2008

TULSA, Okla. - If the Virginia men’s tennis team wants to win its first-ever NCAA championship, it will have to go through the reigning champs.

Today at 5 p.m., top-seeded UVa takes on No. 4 Georgia in the NCAA semifinals. The Bulldogs beat Ole Miss on Sunday.

Last season, Georgia defeated Virginia in the semifinals en route to winning the title.

“I’m not really thinking about what we did last year or what they did,” said Virginia senior co-captain Somdev Devvarman. “I’m more focused on how we’re going to beat them.

“I think all our guys are fired up. Obviously going into the match we’ll be the favorite, but Georgia is a very good team and playing really well right now.”

Devvarman beat Georgia’s No. 1 player, John Isner, in last year’s team and individual tournament. A few weeks later, Isner, who is currently ranked 82nd in the world, lost to Roger Federer in the third round of the U.S. Open. Isner actually took a set off Federer.

This season, the Bulldogs have a new No. 1 - Travis Helgeson. He defeated Devvarman in a three-set match in the fall - Devvarman’s only loss of the school year (he’s won 29 straight since).

“I couldn’t be more pleased with the way [Devvarman’s] striking the ball and he’s moving well,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland. “I haven’t seen him play better than this. He’s playing with a tremendous amount of confidence.”

Georgia coach Manuel Diaz said Helgeson was looking forward to the challenge of playing the No. 1 player in the country.

“It’s going to be who plays the best tennis and keeps their composure,” Diaz said.

Diaz said his team is excited to be facing Virginia.

“It’s the kind of match that we’ve looked forward to the entire year,” he said. “You want to measure yourself against the best teams in the nation and I think this is going to be a great match.

“We feel like we have a team that’s capable of winning a national championship. We’re going to go out there and play to win.”

The winner of tonight’s match will play the UCLA/USC-Ohio State-Texas in the finals on Tuesday night. The match begins at 7 and can be seen on ESPNU.

Huey rebound?

Boland said he’s not too concerned about senior co-captain Treat Huey, who lost to Baylor’s Denes Lukacs, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Huey staved off four match points before succumbing to Lukacs.

“Lukacs is a great player,” Boland said. “We knew that he would be a tough match. It could have gone either way. Treat didn’t get it done, but he’ll bounce back. He’s a champion.”

When Baylor visited Charlottesville in March, Lukacs filled in for injured No. 1 player Lars Poerschke and played Devvarman tough, losing 6-4 in the third set.

Fan support

There was a large contingent of orange in the stands on Sunday. Boland said the team was very thankful.

“We love our fans,” he said. “It’s exciting to have that many people care about the team and push them and give them that extra energy.

“I give a lot of credit to the guys. They’re exciting to watch and they do an outstanding job representing the university.”

Super-fan

One of the most loquacious fans in attendance was Alex Inglot, the older brother of Virginia player Dom Inglot.

The 27-year-old, a lawyer in England, showed up to Tulsa with bright orange spandex, blue short shorts and tinsel around his wrists. The shirtless Englishman, who wore a cape, was accompanied by his girlfriend who was also dressed like it was Halloween.

“The whole goal is to be ridiculous in orange and blue,” Inglot said. “That’s the principle really.”

On Saturday, Inglot’s costume featured a Mexican wrestling mask and gloves. However, he said it was too hot to do that on Sunday.

Rizza and Stewart back

Former Virginia players Rylan Rizza and Doug Stewart, who graduated in 2006, were two of a handful of players on hand to support their old team.

Rizza, who lives in California, is playing professionally. He says he’s ranked in the 800s in singles and 400s in doubles.

“I’ve been training hard and have been playing pretty well,” he said. “As long as I can keep getting better, I’ll keep playing.”

Stewart is working at a New York City bank as a fixed income trader.

“I like it,” Stewart said. “Most of the UVa tennis guys are up there, so I see a lot of my friends on weekends. New York’s a fun city.”

This story has been changed to correct the spelling of Rizzo to Rizza.