Ferocity’s in fashion at NSC tourney
Warren junior Kristiyan Trukov had always wondered why a pro tennis player almost always tosses his racket jubilantly after winning a major tournament.
Until Saturday.
“Now I understand,” the second-seeded Blue Devil said after defeating top-seeded Jeremy Bush of Stevenson 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles final at the North Suburban Conference boys tennis meet at Vernon Hills.
“Before,” he added, “it seemed overly dramatic to me.”
Trukov had plenty of good reasons to joyfully launch his stick on an overcast day — as well as bend his knees, pump his arms a few times and scream something after match point.
“I yelled, ‘Come on!’” he translated afterward. “I was excited when I yelled, so a lot people probably had no idea what exactly came out of me.”
Trukov, third at No. 1 singles at last year’s NSC meet, had lost in straight sets to Bush in their other two meetings. The most competitive match of the encounters was a 6-3, 6-3 decision.
“I attacked and kept my shots deep today,” Trukov said after knocking off last year’s NSC meet champ at No. 1 singles. “I also took a lot of chances. Usually when I play a better player I tighten up. Not today. I got in a zone and stayed in the zone. In the second set I was thinking, ‘The worst that could happen would be playing a third set.’ That would have been good for me.
“I didn’t tighten up against a great player. Amazing.”
Four other Stevenson entrants played in a final at Saturday’s five-flight tourney, with the Patriots claiming three championships to successfully defend their NSC meet title. Stevenson finished with 36 points, and NSC Lake division champ Lake Forest tallied 30 for runner-up honors. LF’s top singles player, sophomore Peter Tarwid, opted to play at a national tournament Friday and Saturday.
Tarwid helped LF edge Stevenson 4-3 in a dual last month; Stevenson went 3-1 vs. Lake Forest in four NSC meet finals on Saturday.
“We’re really proud of our guys,” said Stevenson coach Tom Stanhope. “What our guys did in three-setters in doubles showed our combos are improving.”
Pats sophomore Andrew Komarov and freshman Colin Harvey defeated Lake Forest Scouts Camron Bagheri/Connor O’Kelly 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the final at No. 1 doubles to avenge a three-set setback in April. The pair of Patriots raced to a 5-2 lead in the third set. Harvey bounced an overhead smash over a fence on a pivotal point in the ninth game of the clinching set.
“We stayed positive,” Harvey said of the tandem’s mindset after losing the middle set.
“Energy helped us,” said Komarov. “So did ferocity.”
Harvey smiled shortly after Komarov’s recap.
“Ferocity?” Harvey said, shooting a quizzical look at his partner. “I have no idea what that means.”
Dennis Kontorovich/Adam Maryniuk’s championship effort at No. 2 doubles meant eight team points for Stevenson on Saturday. The duo solved Will Martin/Ryan Kennedy 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2 in another Pats-Scouts final.
Stevenson senior Brian Kim outlasted LF freshman Brice Polender 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-2 for the title at No. 2 singles, while Stevenson’s Pawel Jaworski/Alex Cyrus fell 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 to LF’s John Hayes/Brandon Berish in the No. 3 doubles championship match.
Warren finished a strong third (27 points) for the second straight year behind Trukov and four other top-four showings. Blue Devils senior Wes Stoller defeated Libertyville junior Logan Reiff 6-4, 7-5 for third place at No. 2 singles; Warren’s Matt Matheny/Sam Gudeman edged Vernon Hills’ Darren Hoveydai/David Dobrik 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 for third place at No. 1 doubles; Warren’s Algis Marcinkevicius/Amrit Ayalur downed Lake Zurich’s Jack Arends/Kolton Reitsch 6-2, 6-1 for third place at No. 3 doubles; and Blue Devils Ben Hardiman/Kevin Keefe lost 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to Libertyville’s Eric Klein/Alex Winters in the match for third place at No. 2 doubles.
Libertyville took fourth (17.5 points) in the team standings, ahead of three-year reigning Prairie division champ Vernon Hills (16). Lake Zurich nipped Mundelein 13-12 for sixth place.
Vernon Hills junior Ismail Kadyrov’s only loss at the three-day meet was to Trukov in a 6-2, 6-4 semifinal on Friday. The Cougar outslugged LF sophomore Scott Christian 6-4, 6-3 in the contest for third place at No. 1 singles Saturday morning.
“Trukov played unbelievable tennis, tracked down everything in that semi,” VH coach Doug Gerber said. “Ish had a couple of good shots at evening that second set at 5-5. Then, against Christian, he was consistent, served better and executed the game plan.”
VH senior Zack Lee won three straight-set matches in the back draw to take fifth place at No. 2 singles, while Libertyville freshman Ben VanDixhorn beat Antioch’s Kyler Ward 6-1, 6-0 in the fifth-place match at No. 1 after avenging a dual-meet loss to Mundelein senior Ryan Jump.
The meet’s other fifth-place finishers were Libertyville’s Adam Daluga/Adam Grabowski (No. 1 doubles), Lake Zurich’s Dave Brown/Andrew Guild (No. 2 doubles) and VH’s Justin Shang/Nikita Lunkov (No. 3 doubles).