Rolling Meadows' Galvin gets into the round of 16
Mack Galvin beat the heat, along with three opponents, to reach the round of 16 for the first time in his career as Day 1 of the 100th boys tennis state tournament came to an end Thursday.
The Rolling Meadows junior endured a steamy debut on his home courts, eliminating Nate Carper of Sandburg and Sam Fleming of University High before outlasting Mid-Suburban League rival Ishaan Jaglan of Barrington 6-4, 6-2 in a rematch of the conference final three weeks ago.
"My first two opponents today were very competitive, but I knew, as Ishaan likely did, that we were on a collision course in the third round today, and after playing a tight first match with him, I was finally able to get free of him in that second set to set up my round of 16 match with one of the best in the state."
That foe is Stefano Tsorotiotis of Libertyville (12-1). Galvin (33-4) will meet him at 8 a.m. Friday at tournament central, Hersey High School.
"There was that break at 4-3 in the first set that turned things around, and after that, all I wanted to do was hold as much as I could," said Galvin. "But a few games in with Ishaan, that didn't matter as much as I thought it would."
Galvin spent extra time in the training room icing and stretching out after a long day in the 80-plus degree weather.
"I want to try to go as deep as possible into my match with Stefano, so it's important that I hydrate a lot today and tonight and keep myself loose and ready for that match," Galvin said.
Despite his third-round defeat against Galvin, Jaglan (26-7) is still in terrific shape heading into the second day of competition, and the same is true for his team.
The Broncos top player will move into the consolation bracket, where every point secured becomes vital in the race for a top-10 team finish. Barrington will begin the day tied for eighth with Neuqua Valley at 14 points.
Jaglan next faces Kailash Panchapakesan (32-5) of Jacobs. Barrington's Mohammed Walji, who played four matches Thursday, next faces three-time state qualifier Nate Dell of Glenbard West.
Both of the Broncos' doubles teams stayed in the front draw for two rounds before dropping out in the third after straight-set losses.
Scott Apmann/Matt Mulligan (22-5) opened well before running into 9-16 seed Benjamin Bush/Josh Cheng of Stevenson, which ended in a 6-0, 7-5 (5) loss.
"We rallied back from (0-3) in that second set, played more aggressive, and really pushed the pace, but Bush just kept hitting killer overheads for winners, and that was the difference in that set," said Apmann, who joins Mulligan in facing Naperville North's Jake Kokoris/Rohit Rastogi in Mt. Prospect on Friday.
Sectional champions Zach Hennenfent/Vijay Tripuraneni (21-4) saw their stay in the front draw end against Oak Park-River Forest's Joe Gullo/Jacob Pailey 6-4, 6-1. Next up is St. Francis' Chris Chacko/Nick Kovach at Palatine.
Tournament first-timers Daniel Lee (Hoffman Estates, 12-7) and Markos Christoforou (12-9) went 0-2, as did the Conant team of Nico Rosas/Nikhil Modak.
The Cougars' duo of Matt Meyers-Glenn Huang (19-10) were victorious on their home courts in their tourney opener before a pair loff losses.
The team race is close after one day, with reigning champ Hinsdale Central just ahead of Stevenson (24-21). Lyons Township and New Trier are next with 20 points each.
In the high-profile singles field, all the top seeds remain except for 5-8 Brice Polender (Lake Forest, 14-5), who fell in the third round against 17-32 seed Brandon Ancona (26-3) of Rockford Auburn.
The marquee match of Friday morning will have 9-16 seed Colin Harvey of Stevenson (19-9) vs. 3-4 seed Eddie Grabill (28-4) of Hinsdale Central in a battle of state champions. Harvey won at doubles with Andrew Komarov, while Grabill won the singles title last year.