Back-to-back: Virginia men's tennis repeats as NCAA Division I team champions
The Cavaliers blanked Ohio State 4-0 in Sunday's finale to win the national crown for the sixth time in the last 10 tournaments played.
The loss is especially painful for the Buckeyes who are still searching for their first outdoor title in May, and also because they dropped just one point to the Cavaliers in two matches earlier this season. The biggest difference between those two matches and Sunday’s battle? February’s two meetings were played indoors. The Buckeyes have reached six ITA National Indoor Team Finals under head coach Ty Tucker that includes titles in 2014 and 2019, displaying their dominance on fast indoor conditions.
“We play a lot of tennis indoors,” Tucker said after the match. “We beat them twice indoors and we beat them last year, too. We beat them pretty good last year and they ended up winning the NCAA tournament last year as well.”
Tucker revealed he saw a difficult path to victory for his team if they were unable to win the doubles point due to certain matchups in singles not necessarily being advantageous for the Buckeyes in a physical environment outdoors. Unlike the regular season, when coaches can move players up or down one spot between matches, the order of the lineup is locked at the NCAA tournament.
"I didn't want Kingsley on Montes, but you can't avoid it," Tucker said. "That's not to say anything negative about Kingsley. He's our horse. He's our rock. He's a two-time All-American, a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year. He's our guy, but when you've seen as many matches as I've seen, you know where you feel good. ... Kingsley’s a big point for us, especially if we’re down a doubles point. There’s not a lot of math that leads to us getting four without Cannon Kingsley getting a win.
"Before every match, everybody figures out their math to four (wins). I was struggling to find four last night and the longer I stayed up, the more I didn't find it."
Among those in attendance were the athletic directors of both respective universities, Carla Williams of Virginia and Gene Smith of Ohio State, as well as Roger Federer’s long-time manager Tony Godsick of TEAM8 whose son Nico, a former Top 25 ITF junior, will begin his college career at Stanford in the fall. Stanford alums Bob and Mike Bryan were also there, as later in the evening, they were inducted into the ITA men's Hall of Fame.
With just one starter from each of their singles lineups graduating, as well as both teams bringing in a few new players next season, the Buckeyes and Cavaliers will be among the favorites to win the 2024 NCAA title in Stillwater, Okla. One of those notable additions is Top 50 pro Brandon Nakashima’s brother, Bryce, who is joining Ohio State as a freshman this fall.
Virginia is now in the midst of their second dynasty, after Pedroso’s predecessor Brian Boland led the Hoos to national championships in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Pedroso gained valuable experience from serving as Boland’s associate head coach from 2010-14 and being part of the program’s first national championship, before returning to Charlottesville in 2017 to take over the program right after that fourth national championship. The 2022 ITA National Coach of the Year has since successfully rebuilt the program and added two more titles to the team’s tally.
The ATP had a strong presence at the event with senior vice president of player relations, Fernando Sanchez; director of public relations, Greg Sharko; and managing editor of digital marketing, Paul Macpherson, all in attendance for the finale of the college tennis season. The men’s tour announced a massive initiative for college tennis earlier this year, bringing forth further opportunities for male student-athletes making the transition from college to the pro tour.
