This past weekend, Villanova’s men’s tennis team hosted the Villanova Tennis Invitational, marking the beginning of its 2023-2024 season. The Invitational field included Lehigh, Colgate, Bucknell, Loyola, Lafayette, Rider and Saint Joseph’s in an eight-team bracket-style tournament.

However, due to weather delays and the eventual early cancellation of the Invitational, competition was severely limited. Despite these delays and cancella- tions, the Wildcats shined.

“Overall, it was a really good weekend,” head coach Brad Adams said. “I thought a lot of our veterans played very well, like Josh Robinson [and] Tighe Brunetti, were able to get into the finals of their draw, beating a very good Bucknell team in the semifinals. A trio of guys, Ryan Nguyen, Justin Frattarelli and Lucas Choi, were also able to get into the finals of their draw but, unfortunately, because of the weather, we couldn’t get those finals played, but I was pretty pleased.”

In the 2022-2023 season, the Wildcats finished with a record of 8-15. This was an improvement from the 2021-22 season, when the ‘Cats went 3-15.

This past weekend has Adams optimistic for this upcoming season.

“I thought we performed above my expectations, as far as the guys who were away from the court over the summer,” Adams said. For the upcoming season, the Wildcats will welcome new faces to the roster, including Frattarelli, Will Monahan and Thomas Wakefield. “I think they performed pretty well over the weekend,” Adams said about the new ‘Cats. “But at the same time, you could sort of see them being a little bit tight…it was their first college competition. But within two weeks, hopefully, [they will] sort of grow into the mold and become more relaxed on the court during matches.”

The ‘Cats also welcome back upperclassmen Noah Winton, Robinson, Nguyen, Eitan Khromchenko, Trey Fourticq and Choi, as well as sophomores Brunetti and Cooper Gordon.

“Guys I’m really looking [at] to step up are probably our seniors Ryan Nguyen and Eitan Khromchenko, and really sort of getting back to championship or spring season form,” Adams said.

However, despite the leadership of Nguyen and Kromachenko, Adams specifically has high hopes for senior Robinson and sophomore Brunetti. “Tighe basically started the season where he left off last season, you know,” Adams said. “He’s a beast. And Josh… [he] obviously [has] the senior leadership and experience. He went undefeated this tournament and I thought he really conducted himself like a captain and senior should as far as his play on the court and his demeanor throughout his matches.”

The Wildcats will now look ahead to the upcoming Saint Joseph’s Invitational, which is set to take place from Sept. 22nd to Sept. 24th.

“You know, prior to this invitational that we hosted, we basically only had around six practices,” Adams said. “With another two weeks, I think that we’ll get back into the form we were in around mid-spring last year.”