Schaumburg’s Lin wins title at St. Charles E.

The No. 1 singles championship match at the St. Charles East varsity tennis invitational had a familiar look to it.

St. Charles sophomore Jasper Koenen and Schaumburg freshman Vincent Lin square off against each other often in United States Tennis Association matches for the Midwest region.

They did it again Saturday afternoon for the top prize in the 8-team field, playing on the Geneva High School courts, where singles action took place. But this time, the outcome was different because Lin came away the winner 7-5, 6-4.

“I played different today because Jasper usually beats me,” Lin said. “But today, because I’ve lost so many times to him, I started slicing more, changing speeds and moving him around.”

The strategy worked for Lin, who is No. 1 in the Midwest USTA rankings for 14-year-olds.

Lin wore down Koenen with a series of slicing backhand returns that jammed the Saints’ top player, not allowing him to get his arm extended for solid returns.

“He kept hitting into my body and that is one of his strengths,” said Koenen, who was on the losing end of a high school match for the first time this season.

“We’re both national tennis players, so we play each other often and we always have very long matches,” Koenen said. “This was just another one of those days in which the match could go either way.”

The No. 2 singles final featured the same schools as the Saints’ Justin Bowman toppled Schaumburg’s Ben Brito 6-3, 6-2.

“I was just trying to be more consistent in keeping my balls deeper,” Bowman said of his success in keeping Brito away from the net.

“My serve was good today, and that’s another thing I am trying to improve,” he added.

St. Charles East coach Rob Livermore figured his singles players would fare well in a tournament that featured first and second singles matches, as well as first, second and third doubles.

“Both Jasper and Justin have really played well this year,” Livermore said.

“Coming into today’s tournament, Jasper had not lost a match and Justin had lost only one to a No. 1 singles player when I had him playing at top singles for an event,” he added.

Schaumburg coach Jason Campbell was also pleased with how his singles players reached the final matches, particularly with Lin finally figuring out a way to best Koenen.

“Jasper is just a strong player,” Campbell said of the Saints’ top player. “You think you’ve got the ball past him, but he not only returns it, but powers it right back at you.”

St. Charles East wasn’t able to flex too many muscles in doubles action, but Geneva’s third doubles team of Nick McCarty and Jon Potts finished second after falling to Timothy Christian’s duo of Bryant Beal and Tim Huiziga 4-6, 7-6, and 10-8 in the super tiebreaker.

“We have a few weekend events before conference and sectionals start up, and the weekends are for seeing where you are with your game,” Geneva coach Peter Burkhardt said.

“It helps you know what you need to work on before the bigger (season-ending) events,” he added.

Timothy Christian reached that final with another tight match, notching a 6-7, 7-5 (10-8) win over the Saints duo of Thomas Ma and Matt DeSantis.

Rockford Guilford won the tournament with 16 points, notching a title at second doubles in the process when Jack Alexander and Andrew Stovall knocked off Libertyville’s Adam Grabowski and Adam Daluga 6-4, 6-2.

Libertyville, which placed second with 13 points, turned the tables in first doubles when Jack Springgate and Eric Klein posted a 6-2, 6-0 win over Guilford’s Ian Brandon and Tristan Endsley.

In consolation matches in first doubles, Geneva’s pair of Ryan Doeckel and Brad Reedy topped St. Charles East’s Connor Davis and Mike Muir 6-1, 7-6 on the way to a fifth-place finish.

St. Charles East placed third with 12 points, followed by Timothy Christian with 11, Schaumburg with 10, Glenbard West 9, Geneva 7, and Wheaton Academy 2.

Glenbard West’s Matt Hirsch stopped Geneva’s No. 1 singles player West Adelman 4-6, 6-3 (10-6), in an opening match. Hirsch then fell to Lin 2-6, 6-2 (10-7).

On his way to the second singles title, Bowman dispatched Geneva’s Nick Huang in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.