Fordham Men’s Tennis is back for another exciting season in the Bronx after their 2022-23 season came to a close in their second-round exit of the Atlantic 10 Championships back in April.
Last year’s wins and successes were a large part of their solid freshman core that only have gotten better over the season. Sophomore Dhillon Virdee-Oakley locked down the number two spot this past season, as he won 11 matches and was tied for second on the team in 11 singles wins. He tied for the team lead in doubles. Virdee-Oakley was named A-10 Men’s Tennis Rookie of the Week back in April.
Things were solid even down the line, with sophomore John Mascone locking down things in the fourth and fifth positions, going 5-4 in singles action and was 3-1 at fourth singles. Sophomore Sampras Rakotondrainibe also showed his prowess in the fifth and sixth positions. The former Rookie of the Week had a 12-10 singles mark as well as going 12-14 in doubles action.
The Rams had a pretty rough start to the 2022-23 season, going 1-6 in their first seven matches, but managed to find a good rhythm going into the later half of the season.
Their most impressive run came from their major upset of St. Bonaventure University at the A-10 Championships this past season. As the 10 seed, Fordham won the contest 4-2 with big wins from Virdee-Oakley, Mascone and Rakotondrainibe.
The duo of Virdee-Oakley and Rakotondrainibe posted a huge doubles win, with a score of 6-2.
The team now enters their second season under head coach David Slater, who joined the team following his career of coaching at Manhattanville College.
While the schedule for the upcoming season has yet to be finalized, the Rams expect to be competitive this year with a lot of returning players.
