Boys tennis: Streamwood’s Veltkamp advances to Class 2A state quarterfinals

It was a long day of action on the first day of the three-day boys state tournament Thursday in hopes of potentially capturing a Class 2A state championship on Saturday.

There were matches played at numerous Mid-Suburban League sites, and the big winner at Palatine High School was Streamwood junior Mathieu Veltkamp who opened his day with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Highland Park's Max Radom.

Veltkamp followed up that performance with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Dundee-Crown's Aarav Shah in the second round before defeating Huntley's Will Geske 6-2, 7-6 in the third round. Veltkamp will face New Trier senior Jovan Morales Friday morning in the quarterfinals at Palatine.

Hinsdale Central senior Barry Zhu also reached the quarterfinals against Buffalo Grove's Maksim Hristov. Geske defeated Wheaton Warrenville South's Michael Hauenstein 6-0, 6-0 before losing to Veltkamp.

On the bottom half of the championship bracket, Jacobs sophomore Samuel Santa Ines advanced to the quarterfinals with victories over Benet Academy's Ian DiSanto (6-0, 6-1), Sandburg's Aryan Vora (6-2,6-0), and Peoria Richwood's Dan Nathan (6-3-4). Ines will face Stevenson senior Jaden Dai on Friday morning at Palatine.

Glenbard East senior Finn Talbot is among the many area players who are still alive in consolation play with a chance of finishing as high as fifth in the state. Talbot will play Huntley’s Geske Friday morning at Fremd.

"In the first match (against Glenbrook North's David Wang) Finn was playing the best I've seen him play all year, and he looked awesome," said Glenbard East coach Troy Huber. "It was looking promising after the first set, but the wheels kind of fell off after he fell behind 3-1 in the second set."

DiSanto is also alive in consolation play as is Hinsdale Central sophomore David Waterman, and Glenbard West freshman Jack Creswell.

In Class 2A doubles play, Waubonsie Valley's Revanth Kothapalli and Ishan Suresh Kumar will face New Trier in the quarterfinals Friday morning at Palatine. Hinsdale Central's team of Kyle McCain an Nicholas Marringa will play Oak Park in the quarterfinals.

In Class 1A singles, St. Francis senior Umar Bajwa will take on Johnsburg senior Tyler Batt in the quarterfinals Friday morning at Hersey.

Latin and Deerfield are tied for the team lead in Class 1A with 22 points. Crystal Lake South, Vernon Hills and St. Francis all have 11 points to sit in sixth place.

Hinsdale Central holds a slim lead over New Tier, 20-19, in the 2A standings with Conant and Stevenson tied for third (12 points).