NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The VCU Rams have been chosen as the top seed in the 2022 Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, the league announced Tuesday. The championship begins Thursday, April 28 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
The defending champion Rams, and winners of the last four titles, finished their spring campaign with a 18-6 record and a No. 27 ITA ranking, up two spots in the last week. VCU took down eight teams ranked in the top 75, including top-25 wins over No. 19 Arizona and No. 25 Auburn. Inigo Torre Martin broke the top-100 ITA singles ITA Singles rankings this season at No. 98, while Charles Bertimon is currently ranked No. 104. Charles and brother Maxence Bertimon hold steady at No. 30 in the ITA National Doubles poll. VCU earned a first-round bye and will face the winner of the No. 8 George Mason/No. 9 St. Bonaventure on Friday at 9:00 am.
Saint Joseph's (13-3), is seeded second and received a bye, and will take on the winner of the No. 7 Duquesne/No. 10 Fordham on Friday at 11:30 am. The Hawks won 11 of their last 12 contests and are led by an experienced roster, including graduate students Nathan Perrone and Nickolas Frisk.
The third seed of the championship goes to Dayton (14-7), who will face No. 6 Saint Louis on Friday at 11:30 am. The Flyers are led by reigning A-10 Rookie of the Year, Connor Bruce, who holds a 12-7 record at the top singles position, and freshman Eric Perkowski, who has earned A-10 Rookie of the Week five times this spring. Saint Louis heads to Orlando winning three of the last four matches, and returns All-Conference selections Oscar Alvarez, Theo Ortis and Ryota Fukushima
Davidson (7-11), the four seed, and Richmond (11-10), the fifth seed, each earn a first-round bye and will face off against each other Friday at 9:00 am. The Wildcats return A-10 First Team selection Maxwell Kachkarov, along with seniors Brooks Green and Sam Kavarana, and recently defeated conference opponents George Mason and Richmond in the final two weeks of the season. The Spiders' senior-laden squad, who fell to VCU in the Championship final last season, includes Campbell Erwin and John Walsh, who are 12-4 overall in the top two doubles spots.
Thursday’s first round action opens at 9:00 am with No. 8 George Mason (7-9) facing No. 9 St. Bonaventure (6-12) and No. 7 Duquesne (9-9) taking on No. 10 Fordham (6-9). The winner of those matches will faced the top two seeds in VCU and Saint Joseph's, respectively, on Friday morning.
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 ESPN+, the home for live Atlantic 10 action. Admission will be free for the A-10 Championships.
The winner of the 2022 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 ESPN+, and will be available for international viewers here. All other rounds will be streamed through the USTA website's Playsight system, which allows viewers to select the court they wish to watch.