by By Mark Berman mark.berman@roanoke.com 981-3125 , The Roanoke Times

Sayer, who concluded his stellar Radford University Tennis career last month, is the top seed in the men's open singles division.

The RVITT will be held today through Sunday at Hollins University, Walrond Park and Roanoke Country Club. There are 233 entrants, some of whom will be playing in more than one division. All the men's open singles matches will be at Hollins.

Sayer's parents are natives of England who moved to Hong Kong before he was born. He has played for Hong Kong's Davis Cup team since 2005, and will return to Hong Kong next month for Davis Cup action against Oman.

Sayer has been playing in tournaments this month to get ready. He won the Virginia State Open Clay Court Championships in Keswick and fell in the quarterfinals of the Central Virginia Invitational Tennis Tournament in Lynchburg.

"I'm going to be working out a few kinks in my game," Sayer said Thursday. "I'm going to use this to evaluate where my game is at, and then I'll just try and practice certain shots or something I feel I'll need in Davis Cup."

Last month, Sayer lost in the first round of both the NCAA singles and doubles championships. He will remain at RU as a graduate student, and serve as an assistant coach for the Highlanders.

Sayer and his girlfriend, ex-Highlander Cassandra Price, will defend their mixed open doubles title this weekend.

The second seed in the men's open singles is Nicolas Delgado de Robles, who was Virginia Tech's No. 2 singles player as a senior this year. The native of Madrid, Spain, helped Tech advance to the second round of the NCAA team championships last month.

"He's got a really good forehand and he's got one of the better, sort of prettier slice backhands around," Tech coach Jim Thompson said.

The third seed is Ignaci Roca, who concluded his Tech Tennis career in 2008. Roca, now a Tech graduate student, is a member of Costa Rica's Davis Cup team.

Roca fell to former Tech teammate Albert Larregola in the RVITT final last year. Larregola is now back in his home country of Spain.

Larregola and Roca won the RVITT men's open doubles crown last year. Roca's partner this weekend will be Delgado de Robles, who played in the NCAA doubles championships in 2007.

The No. 4 seed in the men's open singles is Longwood assistant men's Tennis coach Jakob Gustafsson, a former University of Louisville player. The fifth seed is Washington and Lee assistant women's Tennis coach Elliott Datlow, a former University of Kentucky player.

The No. 6 seed is ex-Highlander Youssef Bouzidi, a Roanoke resident who lost in the semifinals last year. The No. 7 seed is Maryland recruit Sergio Wyss of Bethesda, Md.

Averett assistant men's Tennis coach Brandon Johnson, a Roanoke native and ex-Highlander, is the No. 8 seed.

Because there are only 25 entrants in the men's open singles, the top seven seeds have byes into Saturday's round of 16.

Tech's Abbey Walker will defend her title in the women's open singles, which has just four entrants.

ROANOKE VALLEY INVITATIONAL Tennis TOURNAMENT

Where: Hollins University, Walrond Park (Roanoke County) and Roanoke Country Club

Entrants: 233 men, women, boys and girls

When: play begins at 9 a.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.

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