Boys tennis: Hinsdale Central starts strong as state tourney moves indoors

New Trier began its title defense Thursday, but Hinsdale Central has plenty of plans and firepower to bring home the big trophy Saturday afternoon.

With the potential for rainy weather in the forecast, tournament officials opted to play all of the first round matches at several indoor facilities in and around the Chicago area. At Five Star Tennis in Plainfield, top-seed Noah Hernandez from Hinsdale Central won easily, as did teammate and 3-4 seed, Mujata Ali-Khan.

Naperville Central senior Blake Roegner, a doubles state champion a year ago, won his first round contest, as did Elliot Dam (Waubonsie Valley) and Sullivan (Sully) Monteith (28-5) from Glenbard West.

Sectional champions from Naperville North and 9-16 seed Dovydas Jasinauskas and Nathan Lee were victorious, as were DVC rivals Sid Javeri and Jonah Grover from Neuqua Valley.

After claiming its 18th ESCC title in program history two weeks ago, and a sectional title last weekend, Benet Academy has now turned its focus toward a 1A team state trophy. With its 1-2 doubles punch in its lineup, there's a good chance Mike Hands' club could be in the mix.

The No. 2 seed team of John Yahiro and Patrick Burke (28-0) and 3-4 seed of Noah Bobofchak and Andrew Donovan (18-3) each sailed to straight set victories at Centre Court in Hanover Park. Freshman Zach Bobofchak won his singles match at the same time.

"Yahiro played singles for us as a freshman. He lost a year to COVID, then went down to play and train in Florida, and he's come back with a lights out serve that rarely misses. And combined with Patrick, the two are great serve and volley players, who also play aggressive tennis," said Donovan, who along with Bobofchak were third a year ago in 1A doubles.

"Even though we played indoors today, we went out to play consistent tennis, make our shots, put points away, and just use the match to fine-tune our game in advance of tomorrow," added Donovan.

Marmion Academy freshman Ben Graft (23-0) enjoyed a solid first tournament appearance with a straight-set victory to move into the second round today at Wheeling High School.

"We felt great to get that first match out of the way today. (There) we no issues with me playing indoors, and now the plan is to just focus on my next opponent, and nobody else," said Graft, who was the CCL and sectional champion.

Play will resume at all outdoor venues at 8 a.m. Friday. To follow along throughout the next two days, go to the IHSA Tennis website where current schedules, and up-to-date results will be available.