Boys tennis: Fremd’s Srivatsa avenges loss to Sikorski, wins MSL singles championship

Fremd senior Shashwat Srivatsa vs. Hersey sophomore Matthew Sikorski.

Get used to it, tennis fans.

The pair of aces exchanged elite-level shots for the second time this month at Saturday’s Mid-Suburban League boys tennis tournament at Conant.

Third-seeded Srivatsa — two weeks removed from a three-set semifinal loss to eventual Pitchford 32 invite champion Sikorski — evened up their 2025 head-to-head series under cloudy skies and gusty conditions in the No. 1 singles final, surviving a service-break-heavy first set before walloping all kinds of impressive winners in a 6-4, 6-0 triumph.

“Those two might play in (next weekend’s) Fremd sectional singles final and then again in the (Class 2A) state singles final,” said Fremd coach Johnny Kent.

“You might have to see the same great ‘movie’ one more time, maybe two more times,” Hersey coach Andy Walton said. “But the best part is knowing, before each match, there’s a chance the ending won’t be the same.

“Shashwat was super solid, super steady,” the coach added.

Super aggressive, too. Up 4-0 in the second set, with a break point from the ad court, Srivatsa unleashed a high inside-out forehand service return that the top-seeded Sikorski could only watch.

The right-handed Vike had struck the ball slightly above his head, while tilting to his left. The shot required balance, timing and confidence.

“Tennis is a game of shifts in momentum,” said Srivatsa, who finished third with 2024 graduate Amaye Shyani in 2A doubles at last spring’s state tourney. “I like to go for shots like that when I feel the momentum is on my side.”

In a morning semifinal, Srivatsa defeated Barrington junior and second-seeded Hadi Dossani 6-3, 6-1 for his 100th career victory (singles and doubles combined).

“Shashwat is such a competitor,” Kent said. “He knows how to set up points, win points. And he knows angles — he’s geometry guy out there.”

None topped Barrington’s sum total of 52 tourney points. The Broncos captured their second MSL tourney championship in three years behind flight titles from sophomore Will Delach (No. 2 singles), Ali Kanji/Rishi Patari (No. 3 doubles) and Ahmad Dossani/Omkar Gowda (No. 4 doubles).

Co-defending overall MSL champions Fremd (48) and Hersey (46) finished 2-3 but shared second place overall (based on division place and tournament finish). Conant (40) wound up fourth at the three-day tournament, followed by Prospect (27), Palatine (16), Rolling Meadows (14), Schaumburg (13), Buffalo Grove (11), Elk Grove (10), Hoffman Estates (5) and Wheeling (4).

All four of Barrington’s doubles entrants reached a final in the 3-singles-4-doubles format. Broncos Avar Anand/Shian Mittal won a crucial morning semifinal at No. 1 doubles, edging Fremd’s Ved Mistry/Stanley Zeng 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a three-plus-hour match.

“It’s quite windy,” said Barrington assistant coach Eric Rodrigo, filling in for John Roncone, who attended his middle daughter’s college graduation in Rhode Island. “Despite the tough conditions, I saw many excellent double points, crazy points, some rallies lasting 20 shots. Our guys made good adjustments; they figured things out. And they meshed well all weekend.”

Conant sophomores Nathan Desai/Austin Wu dropped a combined 8 games in three matches at No. 1 doubles, culminating their dominant run to the Cougars’ lone flight title with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Anand/Mittal.

“As early as the warm-up for the final, we were feeling it,” said Wu, who’s effective serves made life easy for Desai at the net. “It definitely helps when you can rely on your doubles partner like I can.”

Desai then delivered a compliment of his own — and it wasn’t a backhanded one.

“All I have to do is stand there,” he said after the top-seeded duo improved to 12-4. “Austin’s serves and shots set me up so well.”

Desai/Wu played relentless tennis from point one and thwacked an array of exclamation-point-ish shots in each set.

“Their strong start enabled them to play loose and to have fun,” said Conant coach Matt Marks, whose squad gets to battle Fremd and Hersey and other teams for Class 2A state berths at next weekend’s Fremd sectional.

Fremd senior Vedanth Srihari (No. 3 singles) and Hersey’s Andrew Weber/Ryusei Yamada (No. 2 doubles) also emerged as MSL tourney champions Saturday.

Additional runners-up: Conant’s Maximus Rysz (No. 2 singles); Kazuya Nishizaka (No. 3 singles); Barrington’s Adam Hyderi/Sohan Yousfi (No. 2 doubles); Fremd’s Patrick Sze/ Manta Mittal (No. 3 doubles); and Fremd’s Ryan Barretto/Kristof Kovacs (No. 4 doubles).

Conant’s Kabir Motwani, Hersey’s Jakub Pasielak and Barrington’s Dhruv Patari finished third at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Fremd’s Mistry/Zeng, Conant’s Haruki Watanabe/Carter Strilich, Hersey’s Tyler Wentink/Joe Yeh and Hersey’s Andrew Stan/Andy Maru took third at Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 doubles, respectively.

“Some very good tennis players won’t qualify for state,” Walton said, looking ahead to the talent-packed field at next weekend’s Fremd sectional.

“Sure it’s tough,” added Kent. “But I like that you have to earn your way to a state berth.”

NSC tourney: Stevenson (50 points) won Saturday’s North Suburban Conference tournament behind championship efforts from Dustin Zhao (No. 1 singles), Nikhil Vijayakumar (No. 2 singles), Sai Kodumuri (No. 3 singles), Chatti Annapragada/Vrishan Kanuri (No. 3 doubles) and Andre Dreesen/Emmanuel Kuang (No. 4 doubles).

Lake Forest finished runner-up with 44 points, followed by Libertyville (35), Warren (25), Mundelein (24), Lake Zurich (15) and Zion-Benton (9).

“Singles got the job done,” said Stevenson coach Izzy Balase. “Dustin Zhao is hitting his stride in these final weeks, and our doubles teams are on the verge of playing their best tennis.”

Libertyville’s Chethan Nickerson/Chase Peirce topped the No. 1 doubles field, while Lake Forest’s Owen Kuehnle/Gavin Burns won the No. 2 doubles bracket.

CSL South tourney: New Trier captured the Central Suburban League South tournament on Saturday, netting 18 points to runner-up Glenbrook North’s 13.5.

Deerfield took third (11.5), followed by Glenbrook South (9.5), Evanston (2) and Maine South (1.5).