NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The VCU Rams have been chosen as the top seed in the 2018 Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, the league announced Tuesday. The championship begins Thursday, April 27 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
The defending champion Rams finished their spring campaign with a 13-9 record. VCU is led by a pair of Spaniards in sophomore Javier Amantegui and freshman Inigo Torre Martin, who tied for the team-lead in wins with 16 apiece. Amantegui took home Atlantic 10 Player of the Week two times this season, while Torre Martin claimed the Rookie of the Week award five times. Amantegui and Arvid Noren were the top doubles team for the Rams, claiming victory a team-high nine times. VCU earned a first-round bye and will face the winner of the No. 8 George Mason/No. 9 Saint Joseph’s on Friday at 9:00 am.
Davidson (15-6), is seeded second and will look to claim their first-ever Atlantic 10 Men’s Tennis Championship. From the No. 2 spot, Shamael Chaudhry led the Wildcats with a team-high 14 wins, while senior Artem Khrapko finished the season just behind Chaudhry with 13 wins from the No. 1 singles spot. Khrapko and Axel Fries and Chaudhry and David Hager tied for the team lead in doubles win with 10 apiece. Davidson also gets a bye, and will take on the winner of the No. 7 Saint Louis/No. 10 Fordham on Friday at noon.
The third seed of the championship is Dayton (16-6), who will get the winner of the No. 6 Duquesne/No. 11 St. Bonaventure on Friday at noon. The Flyers are led Jordan Benjamin and Carsten Fisher, both earned 18 wins apiece. Benjamin was a perfect 14-0 from the No. 1 singles spot.
George Washington earns the final first-round bye as the four seed in the A-10 Championship and will face the winner of the No. 5 Richmond/No. 12 La Salle matchup on Friday at 9:00 am. GW is looking to claim their sixth title since 2011.
Thursday’s first round action opens with No. 8 George Mason (8-14) and No. 9 Saint Joseph’s (7-13) and No. 5 Richmond versus No. 12 La Salle at 9:00 am. The winners move on to face VCU and George Washington, respectively.
In the afternoon session, No. 6 Duquesne (12-7) will square off against No. 11 St. Bonaventure (3-16) and No. 7 Saint Louis (8-9) will challenge No. 10 Fordham (14-6) at noon. The winners earn a spot in Friday’s second set of quarterfinal matches, and will take on Davidson and Dayton, respectively.
The semifinals will be played Saturday at 10:00 am and the championship finale is Sunday at 10:00 am and will be broadcasted on the A-10 Network. Admission will be free for the A-10 Championships. The winner of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Men’s Tennis Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Sunday's championship final will be streamed in conjunction with the USTA on YouTube. All other rounds will be streamed through the USTA website's Playsight system, which allows viewers to select the court they wish to watch.