Boys’ tennis journeyed to Taft in search of our first win on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, we encountered a typically deep, well-coached, aggressive “crash” (citation: http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/2015/05/08/24-rhino-facts-you-should-know/) of Rhinos – they relentlessly attacked the net on their way to a doubles sweep, and carried the momentum into singles, taking four first sets. While Gideon and Deepak were outclassed by more experienced opponents (Gideon playing a close first set against the four-star Horne), Scott took the bull by the horns from the start and never let up. The score lay at 3-1 in Taft’s favor, less than three hours into the match, and with veterans Carl, Matthew, and Alfi all still on court.
Carl had just enough firepower to overcome Timpson in the first set, while Matthew came up just short against Pezzulo and Alfi’s set slipped away faster than would be ideal. Momentum shifted in all three matches, however (Matthew saving a match point in a second-set tiebreaker), meaning all three courts were headed to full third sets. Timpson was the first to break through, taking the third set 6-2 to clinch the match, after which Pezzullo brought it home against Matthew. Alfi had a great look at a down-the-line backhand on match point, but it caught the top of the net, and he eventually headed to a tiebreaker. The light shower that ensued didn’t prevent Rissman from catching fire, as he took the breaker 7-2.
This is certainly the closest 6-1 decision we’ve had in my tenure (reminiscent of our 7-0 win over Suffield last year, also featuring three third sets), and we played a lot of very competitive tennis today. Equally impressive was the $288 that the varsity and JV teams combined to spend at Five Guys on the way home. After four road trips in eight days, we get to spend the next week without seeing the inside of a moving vehicle – Loomis comes to town on Wednesday.
Thanks to my parents and to the Auerspergs for their support. Live match updates will continue on Twitter, @deerfieldtennis.
Taft 6, Deerfield 1
Ogden Timpson/Jacques Pellet (T) d. Carl Grant/Scott Danforth (D) 8-6
Dylan Powell/Peter Oh (T) d. Matthew Wuyan/Deepak Pathapati (D) 8-2
Aaron Pezzullo/Gabe Rissman (T) d. Alfi Auersperg/Arthur Yao (D) 8-6
Timpson (T) d. Grant (D) 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2
Danforth (D) d. Powell (T) 6-1, 6-3
Pezzullo (T) d. Wuyan (D) 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3
Rissman (T) d. Auersperg (D) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (2)
Oh (T) d. Pathapati (D) 6-1, 6-2
Peter Horne (T) d. Gideon Yektai (D) 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles 2,1,3; singles 5,6,2,1,3,4