The Oak Park and River Forest High School boys tennis team advanced both of its doubles teams to the IHSA Class 2A state finals at the OPRF Sectional, May 24.
“We’re very happy to get both doubles teams qualified,” said OPRF coach John Morlidge. “I knew our top guys [seniors Alex Dolipschi and Eli Stein] would. The second team [freshman Alek Rekucki and sophomore Nicholas Vizzone], I was a little bit worried because they’re younger. But they played very well and really competed hard.”
After a first-round bye, the top-seeded duo of Dolipschi and Stein defeated Gabe Fischer and Abhishek Kabra of Jones 6-0, 6-1 in the second round; Ferndro Zamora and Roberto Perez of Morton 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals; and Arjun Sawadekar and Oscar Bubel of Chicago Latin 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinals.
However, Dolipschi and Stein met a buzzsaw in the final. They won the first two games against Latin’s Jake Goldstein and Mark Tismensky, but the Romans then won 12 consecutive games to win the match 6-2, 6-0.
“They played pretty good today,” Dolipschi said. “We know how to play them now, and I think we can definitely beat them the next time we play them.”
Despite the disappointing loss in the sectional final, Stein is looking forward to the state tournament.
“It’s nice we’re going to state,” he said. “We’re looking to make a good run this year; it’s our last year of high school and we’re looking to make it memorable.”
Rekucki and Vizzone entered the sectional as the fourth seed. Following a bye, they blanked Morton’s Nate Crowe and Oscar Hernandez 6-0, 6-0, then defeated Jay Manadan and Atticus Peterson of Whitney Young in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-2.
They lost the semifinal to Goldstein and Tismensky 1-6, 3-6, but won the third-place match against Sawadekar and Bubel when the Latin duo retired due to injury in the second set.
“[Rekucki and Vizzone] were fantastic,” Morlidge said. “They’re really good players, and they’ll be back next year. We’ll see how they do at state.”
Neither of OPRF’s singles entries advanced as Manu Rajagopal lost to Jakob Kohn of Latin 5-7, 1-6, and Naveen Rajagopal lost to Latin’s Kiyan Aisikafi 1-6, 0-6. The Huskies finished third in the team standings with 15 points as the Romans won the championship with 30 points.
Morlidge is hopeful that Dolipschi and Stein get one of the top eight state seeds, which would mean a favorable draw. Dolipschi said the tournament is up for grabs.
“It’s going to be tough regardless,” he said. “Lots of teams have played each other and came close, including us. It’s going to be a battle, and hopefully we can come out with a win.”
Fenwick
At the 1A Hinsdale South Sectional, May 23-24, the Friars placed fifth with six points.
Freshman Michael Doherty qualified for the state finals in singles play. He defeated Ellis Korda of Northside Prep 6-1, 6-0 in the first round, then Mark Abdel-Malek in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-2.
In the semifinals, Doherty fell to eventual champion Zeke Bisharat of Hinsdale South 2-6, 3-6, and lost the third-place match to Marc de Vandiere de Vitrac of Lycée Français of Chicago 3-6, 6-1, 0-6.
“It was an outstanding performance,” said Fenwick coach Ron Rogala. “Michael has shown a lot of growth and maturity and has continued to develop throughout the season.”
Fenwick’s other singles entry, sophomore Ryan Hiller, defeated St. Laurence’s Liam Calderon 6-0, 6-1 in the first round, but lost to DePaul Prep’s Hudson Ward in the quarterfinals 1-6, 1-6.
“Ryan has improved immensely from the time he stepped into second singles,” Rogala said.
Both of the Friars’ doubles entries lost in the first round: JP Bordeaux and Ryan Brennan 1-6, 3-6 to Lucas Arceo and Martin Brown of DePaul Prep; and Scott Holliday and Cooper Jones 6-3, 5-7, 2-6 to Isaac Choi and Ethan Pan of Hinsdale South.
“It was a good year as far as learning, developing, and working together,” Rogala said. “I’m very proud of this team. They fought and played hard throughout the tournament.”
The IHSA state tournament runs May 29-31 at Palatine High School.