Boys tennis: Hersey's Sheldon sparkles in 32 debut
Max Sheldon's first ever appearance in the Pitchford 32 boys tennis tournament could not have gone better.
The freshman from Hersey upset 5-8 seed Jeremy Learner of Highland Park on Friday afternoon in Arlington Heights to advance into Saturday's quarterfinals, where he will face returning state medal-winner Ryan Roegner of Naperville Central.
Sheldon handled the pressure of playing in his biggest major of the season and his young career, coming back from a second-set defeat plus a deficit in the 10-point tiebreaker to defeat Learner, who a year ago was one victory away from earning a state medal at doubles with teammate Brandon Lew.
"Max was so mentally tough, and showed so much grit to come back against a great player like Learner," said Hersey coach Andy Walton.
Sheldon opened with a 6-3 first set victory, then conceded a 6-1 defeat to set up his tiebreaker heroics.
"I had a terrific start, but Jeremy hit a lot of great winning shots in that second set, while I had a lot of unforced errors," said Sheldon, who after falling behind roared back to take a 9-6 lead before watching Learner draw even at 9-9.
The Huskies' frosh closed out his opponent with two 15-ball points.
Roegner (11-2), who just a few days ago committed to play at Butler, looked sharp in his two matches. That includes his second contest of the day with Jake Zipoli (New Trier), who retired while trailing 2-0 in the second set following Roegner's 6-1 first-set triumph.
"This is an important weekend, because there will be some quality opponents to play over the two days," said Roegner, who with a third-place state finish helped Naperville Central win the state championship. "I hope the weather will hold in order for the tournament to be played to its completion."
Naveen Ramakrishman (No. 2) and the No. 1 doubles team of Martin Matov/Ammaar Saeed also remain alive in the championship bracket for the Redhawks.
Roegner's quarterfinal is set to begin at 8 a.m. Saturday at Hersey, while Matov/Saeed (7-1) open at Buffalo Grove against Glenbard West (Foster/Maltby) and Ramakrishman awaits his second-round opponent at Fremd.
Reigning North Suburban Conference champ Stevenson will be in the team title race along with Hinsdale Central and New Trier after advancing all four of its teams into the quarterfinals.
In singles, No. 1 Sam Komis and No. 2 Zach Kim breezed through their first two rounds. Kim is still on hold as to who he will next play at Fremd. Komis, following his 6-3, 6-3 victory over Max Skaer of Belleville East, next meets Zack Elliot of Hinsdale Central.
Elliot finished sixth last season at state, and won last weekend at the Jay Kramer Invite.
"I wasn't at my best today, but I was able to win the big points, which against a very good opponent like (Skaer) is really important," said Komis.
Komis' freshman teammates, Sai Merneedi/Erik Perkowski (8-1), were an impressive team in their first 32. They earned a pair of 6-1, 6-1 victories in their first two matches to set up a Saturday quarterfinal against New Trier.
"We're both singles players, but we've played together during off-season tournaments so we feel real comfortable out there," Perkowski said. "It's just that we still have to learn some things about playing doubles in high school."
Arjun Sheelvanth/Aswath Viswanathan, state qualifiers last year for the Patriots, joined their teammates in the front draw after a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Sam Bay/Dan Gankov from Hersey.