Boys’ tennis started a travel-heavy week with a Monday roadtrip to Williston. Due to the late start, we elected play singles first, with doubles only going on in the event of a 3-3 split, and to hasten things further we played a “hot start.”
Lorenzo was first off, fearlessly rushing the net on almost every point and preventing his opponent to find a rhythm. He was shortly joined on the sidelines by Darren, who settled in after a shaky first game to play a clean, steady match. After Scott, in his debut in the top spot, took two competitive sets from Robbins, things started to get interesting.
Tom, unable to get anything going, went down 3 and 3 in the last position, leaving the score at 3-1 with us needing one match to clinch. While Alfi blasted through Ken 6-1 in the first, Gideon, thoroughly flustered and perhaps feeling some pressure, dropped a nervous first set 6-2. Momentum immediately made a 180 degree turn, as Ken’s flat serve and groundstrokes began to bother Alfi, and Gideon settled down and cracked a bunch of groundstrokes past the other Robbins. Both players began full third sets as the shadows started to lengthen and thoughts of doubles tactics began to creep in.
Gideon went down a quick break at 2-1, but got it back and then another, going up 4-2, but promptly gave it back and his opponent held to get to 4-4. Fortunately, Gideon held and was able to swing one more break to take the set 6-4 and clinch the match for us.
All eyes turned to Alfi, whaling away as usual and trading holds with Ken. He too saved the best for last, holding at 4-4 and then breaking at 5-4 to win it.
We had just enough depth to get the win today, but I don’t think we can afford to give Carl any more off days. After a day of practice tomorrow, we play four matches in a row this week and are in need of another marquee win to strengthen our tournament resume.
Deerfield 5, Williston 1
Scott Danforth (D) d. Z. Robbins (W) 6-3, 6-3
Darren Ho (D) d. N. Sierras (W) 6-2, 6-1
Alfi Auersperg (D) d. Ken Wang (W) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
Gideon Yektai (D) d. J. Robbins (W) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Lorenzo Munoz (D) d. J. Park (W) 6-0, 6-1
N. Raja (W) d. Tom Slack (D) 6-3, 6-3