Naperville North knocks off Metea Valley
The spotlight at a boys tennis dual match is typically shown the brightest at No. 1 singles and the top-rated doubles tandem.
Tuesday afternoon in Naperville, Kevin Zhang, Kirk Williams and Sam Liu were up to the challenge.
In the DuPage Valley Conference league opener for Naperville North, Zhang and the Huskies' No. 1 doubles units defeated their counterparts from Metea Valley to pace the way for a 5-2 victory.
Zhang is normally Williams' doubles partner.
"We tried to switch the lineup for the first conference match," Zhang said.
The Huskies' junior overcame a sluggish start against the Mustangs' Avery Holt.
"I lost the first three games," Zhang said.
But the right-hander rebounded in fashion, capturing 12 of the next 14 games to win 6-3, 6-2.
Zhang won nine consecutive games bridging the two sets.
In the schools' first doubles contest, the key point came with Williams and Liu nursing a 5-4 lead in games while attempting to hold serve against Ian Doyle and Aleks Schroeder.
The 10th game was in a deuce situation.
But Williams uncorked a vicious ace, and Liu ended the first set with a thunderous overhead smash on the ensuring point.
"We hadn't been serving to (Doyle's) forehand, because it's such a powerful weapon for him," Williams said. "It seemed like the right time to do it. It definitely gave us a momentum boost. The first set can really turn a match one way or the other."
The Huskies' top-rated unit were in control in the second set for a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
"I think the big difference for us winning the match was staying confident in our shots," Liu said.
The Huskies (3-2, 1-0) soon enjoyed a 4-0 team lead by sweeping the doubles competition.
The Naperville North partnerships of Preston Douglas-Chao-Ian Guppy and Kevin Mackh-Tarun Zellanki had few issues with their Metea Valley counterparts at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, respectively.
The Naperville North duos captured 24 of the 30 contested games in their straight-sets wins.
Sophomore Rahul Korpatti had the last of the Huskies' triumphs as the third-singles player earned a hard-fought 5-7, 7-5 and 6-2 victory over the Mustangs' Aryan Gandhi.
It proved to be a familiar refrain in the final three singles matches as Metea Valley earned both its wins - at second and fourth singles - in three-set matches.
At No. 2 singles, Metea Valley sophomore Andre Ladron de Gueverrar outlasted the Huskies' Saahil Rastogi in a two-hour-plus match.
"There wasn't much net play," said Ladron de Gueverrar, who prevailed 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6 (7-4). "It was basically all from the baseline. (Rastogi) did a great job with his consistency."
Sarat Sagaram was the other winner for Metea Valley (0-2, 0-2) at fourth singles, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2) and 6-1.