May 8, 2008
GHS tennis rolls past rival Rams, 6-1
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Ever since the April 3 loss to Fairfield Warde 5-2, a refocused Greenwich High School boys tennis team has been on a mission to win.
Last Thursday, rival New Canaan High School got a taste of how focused Big Red is, as the Cards came out victorious 6-1.
“I think the team concept is huge and the amount of time they spent together struggling after that opening loss and coming together as a team has brought them closer as a team,” Greenwich head coach Connie Jones said. “Other games have helped them improve the intelligence of play. This was a good win for the team today. We’re going to take it one step at a time.”
The Cardinals dominated from the start, winning all but one singles match and sweeping the doubles.
“Obviously Greenwich is a stronger team,” New Canaan Dan Borgman said. “Greenwich is a powerful team. We had individual victories here. Some of the players here played better than they have all year. We need to gear up for county and states. We have what it takes to upset anybody at any given time, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.”
Greenwich was led by junior Eric Kremheller at No. 1 singles. Against John Mammelly, Kremheller started out slow but went on to beat his opponent 6-3, 6-1.
“This was our toughest match of the year so far, so we came out strong,” Kremheller said. “The wind here was a huge factor. My serve, which was failing me the past couple of matches, was really on today. I came up to the net a few times and was successful and all-around my ground strokes were good, too.”
“Today was tough,” Mammelly said. “We knew coming in that Greenwich is one of the top teams. We have this one circled, hoping we could take this one, but it didn’t go as well I would have liked. I didn’t play my best tennis, but I am hoping to see them in the FCIACs and get a second crack at them. My whole career I have never beaten Greenwich, so at FCIACs I’m putting it all on the line.”
Playing in his first match for Greenwich this season, senior Patrick Davidson showed his toughness against New Canaan’s Ben Lee, winning 6-2, 7-5.
“This is Patrick’s first time coming out,” Jones said. “He’s a fabulous player and it was great to see him. He’s got an all court game, he has speed, he’s tall and that just adds more depth. The other kid came out stronger in the second set, but Patrick has answers for him and went behind him a lot and his serve percentage picked up. That’s the sign of a good tournament player.”
Greenwich had another dominating performance from No. 4 singles player junior Spiker Hayden. Against Brad Rippe, Hayden won 6-1, 6-2.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing my best, but I still felt good,” Hayden said. “I made sure I had the proper game plan to execute my opponent the correct way. I wanted to be dominant overall and be confident on what strokes I wanted to use. I also wanted to do a little serve and volley. I felt pretty confident I was going to win the match, but even though it wasn’t my best day of tennis, I was pretty proud of how I did.”
The hardest fought match was at No. 5 singles, as GHS sophomore Michael Chieng needed three set, but came back from a 2-6 loss in the second set to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 against Oliver Citrin.
“That win was huge for him and I am glad to see that,” Jones said. “It was a confidence booster for him and it showed he was able to work out his problems.”
Although Citrin loss the match, Borgman was pleased with the way he played his first-ever varsity singles match.
“That was the first time he’s played singles all year,” Borgman said. “He’s been playing doubles, but looked really good today, so he might stay there for the future.”
Greenwich’s lone loss was at No. 3 singles, as New Canaan’s Kevin Brederick got the best of Big Red’s Shota Tasaki 6-1, 6-3.
In doubles action, the Greenwich duo of Russell Slater and Ryan Shea, both seniors and playing No. 1 doubles, took care of their New Canaan opponents, Andrew Hornblower and Sam Rashin, 6-1, 6-4. In No. 2 doubles, the GHS duo of Ted Wan and Yutaro Sakai, both seniors, finished off New Canaan’s Connor Hedley and Peter Huff, 6-3, 6-4.
“The doubles teams have been playing together for at least three years, so they have a good friendship and they communicate very well,” Jones said. “They answer problems with good, effective communication.”
With the victory, Greenwich upped its record to 9-1 overall while the Rams fell to 8-2 on the season.
“In the first match, we went downhill, but ever since then we’ve grown and matured and we figured out how much depth we have. For the past few years we were untouchable,” Hayden said. “This year is a learning experience because we’re starting to level out to the rest of the field. I still think we have an upper hand with the talent that we have because our singles and doubles are really good. I still see us winning FCIACs and states again and I have full confidence in us.”
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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