Boys varsity tennis defeated Choate 5-2 at home on Saturday, 5/4. It was a match full of drama with stiff competition on every court!
Doubles turned out to be the smoothest part of the day for the Doors, although courts #2 and 3 very much had to earn their victories. At #1, Ethan Li and Gunter Weldon cruised to an 8-3 victory. On court #2, Tom Molson and Tai Feng went back and forth at the start but seemed to be firmly in control once up 7-4; after two loose games, the duo had to refocus and broke to clinch the win 8-6. #3 Walker Naughton and Tommy McMahon also had a tight beginning but once they pulled ahead 5-4 there was no turning back as their aggressive play secured their 8-5 win.
Up 1-0 in the match but knowing that singles would be a battle across the board, DA started strong by taking the lead on courts 1 (Li), 3 (Molson), 4 (Feng), and 5 (Naughton). #6 Christian Capella went back and forth with his opponent before pulling out his first set 7-5 against a hard-hitting player; #2 Weldon dropped his first set to his human-backboard opponent. While Li, Feng, and Naughton all closed out their first sets, Molson’s opponent cleaned up his game and took that first set 7-5 after Molson had been up 5-2.
As Naughton was battling in his second set, he closed in to the net, hit an overhead, and was running back to cover the return but rolled his ankle and had to retire at 4-4, deuce. That retirement levelled the match score to 1-1. Not long after, both Feng and Capella cruised to victory in their second sets to put DA up 3-1 and needing only one more match to secure the win. At that point, Weldon had won his second set and was entering a deciding third set superbreaker. After always having to claw back after being down one or two points, Weldon showed unbelievable mental toughness and unmatched athleticism to run down ball after ball, not to mention an incredible stretched forehand volley winner at 7-8 to tie it up and ultimately close it out 10-8, clinching the match for the team. It was an impressive showing from our one freshman!
With two courts remaining but the pressure to win now off, the team watched Li and Molson finish out their matches. Molson was unable to comeback in his second set, but Li stayed calm and composed as his second set went back and forth, eventually leading to a tiebreaker. Li took a big 6-0 lead in the breaker, played a few tight points to give his opponent a glimmer of hope, but closed out the breaker and match 7-3 to give DA its final point of the day.
It was a great effort from the whole team, and the win brings the team to 6-3 overall on the season. Next up, DA will host Hotchkiss at home on Wednesday, 5/8 (currently scheduled for 4pm, but potentially starting earlier) in what’s sure to be another hard-fought matchup.
Results
Doubles order of finish: 1,3,2
#1. Li/Weldon (DA) def. Bock/Barbie (C) 8-3
#2. Molson/Feng (DA) def. Henderson/Watcharananan (C) 8-6
#3. Naughton/McMahon (DA) def. Guo/Mobarak (C) 8-5
Exhibition: Salz/Diffley (DA) def. Capella (DA)/Liu (C) 6-3
Singles order of finish: 5,4,6,2,3,1
#1. Ethan Li (DA) def. Reid Bock (C) 6-2, 7-6(3)
#2. Gunter Weldon (DA) def. Will Henderson (C) 3-6, 6-2, 10-8
#3. Johnny Guo (C) def. Tom Molson (DA) 7-5, 6-3
#4. Tai Feng (DA) def. Andrew Watcharananan (C) 7-5, 6-0
#5. Coyan Mobarak (C) def. Walker Naughton (DA) 1-6, 4-4, retirement
#6. Christian Capella (DA) def. Jonathan Liu (C) 7-5, 6-2
Exhibition: Blix Salz (DA) def. Truman Barbie (C) 7-6(8), 6-0