What a way to finish for Bogatov, Fedorov
As daily doubles go, this one is hard to top.
Warren junior Denis Bogatov wins the IHSA state singles title over Glenbrook North's Eric Spector 7-6 (5), 7-5 on Saturday and senior teammate Igor Fedorov is honored with the IHSTCA Tom Pitchford Sportsmanship Award.
Fedorov was a unanimous selection by the six coaches who sit on the award committee. Coach Greg Cohen calls Fedorov the best young man he has ever coached.
"I consider this to be the most prestigious honor that there is in the state," Cohen said. "You have to be a good player, a good sport, have great academics and be involved in the community. He's just amazing in all categories."
Fedorov and his doubles partner, Konrad Siczek, had a top 24 showing at the state tournament and earned third-team all-state recognition. Siczek wraps up his time at Warren as the third winningest player in program history.
"They will be hard to replace," Cohen said. "They are such (tremendous) leaders. They put so much back into the program."
Bogatov, the No. 2 seed coming into the tournament, put together three consecutive days of dazzling tennis.
Bogatov's straight set victory in the finals took nearly three hours to complete.
"Neither player comes into the net a whole lot and they were just ripping ground strokes," Cohen said.
Bogatov said that was as hard as he's ever hit the ball.
"A lot of it was adrenaline," he said. "The crowd turnout was great, and I was pumped up the whole match."
While some elite juniors take their junior season off to work on their national rankings, Bogatov was focused on winning a state title and helping the Blue Devils win matches.
"I really enjoy the team atmosphere," he said.
Bogatov, who will enter anywhere from seven to ten tournaments this summer, said he is planning on playing high school tennis again next year.
Cohen said he loved the look of pure joy on Bogatov's face when he had secured the state title.
"He had a strong sense of accomplishment," Cohen said. "He made a commitment to play high school tennis with the idea of doing this."