NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The VCU Rams locked down the top overall seed in the 2023 Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Tennis Championship, the league announced Monday afternoon. The championship begins Wednesday, April 26 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

The defending champion Rams, winners of the last five titles, concluded their spring campaign with a 17-5 record and a No. 38 ITA ranking. VCU collected victories over four squads ranked in the top 75, including key wins over No. 30 Cornell and No. 35 Tulane. The Rams maintained success behind the efforts of their veteran core, led by brothers Maxence and Charles Bertimon, the latter of which closed out the season ranked No. 74 in the ITA national rankings, along with Matisse Bobichon, who currently slots in at No. 106. VCU garnered a first-round bye and will face the winner of the No. 8 Duquesne / No. 9 Saint Joseph's on Thursday at 4:30 pm.

Richmond (13-8) received the No. 2 overall seed as well as a bye, and will take on the winner of the No. 7 St. Bonaventure / No. 10 Fordham Thursday at 7:00 pm. The Spiders picked up wins in three of their final five contests, including 4-0 sweeps of both Fordham and Dayton.

Saint Louis grabbed the third position (15-5) and will battle No. 6 Dayton (13-10) on Thursday at 7:00 pm in the second session of quarterfinals matches. Davidson (8-10), the No. 4 seed, and fifth-overall George Mason (7-7) match up against each other Thursday at 4:30 pm in the opening sequence of quarterfinals. Notably, the Billikens, Flyers, Wildcats and Patriots all join VCU and Richmond in earning a bye through the opening round of contests.

First Round action opens Wednesday with No. 8 Duquesne (8-7) squaring off with No. 9 Saint Joseph's (8-7-1) as well as No. 7 St. Bonaventure (10-9) taking on No. 10 Fordham (7-11), both matches slated for 3:00 pm. The winner of the former will match up against top-seeded VCU while the latter will take on No. 2 overall Richmond in Thursday's quarterfinals.

The semifinals are scheduled for Friday at 5:30 pm with the championship finale slated for Saturday afternoon at 5:30 pm, the latter of which will broadcast live on ESPN+, the home for live Atlantic 10 action. All other rounds will be streamed through the USTA website's Playsight system, which allows viewers to select the court they wish to watch. Admission will be free for the A-10 Championships.

The winner of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Men’s Tennis Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.