Garden City's Ben Wiese, CJ Bravo win boys tennis state doubles championship
CJ Bravo and Benjamin Wiese of Garden City celebrate a point against Clarkstown South the New York State boys tennis doubles finals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Sunday. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
Ben Wiese delivered the unreturnable serve and that clinching moment delivered a surge of joy through him and CJ Bravo under the bright Sunday morning sunshine pounding Court 12.
These two Garden City players were the tennis kings in Queens, taking the state boys doubles championship at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The second-seeded duo defeated top-seeded Christopher Cho and Pratik Nayak, of Clarkstown South, 6-3, 6-4.
“It means so much,” Bravo said, standing on the court next to Wiese. “We worked so, so hard and I’m glad it paid off.”
It wasn’t the first time it paid off for the Wiese family. Ben’s aunt, Nancy, won a state doubles title in 1991. And his sister, Nina, claimed a state singles title in 2023.
“Good to follow her,” he said. “We got fifth last year and we worked really hard. So it just feels amazing.”
Jen Soper was filled with joy, too. The 10th-year Garden City coach had never guided a state champ before in doubles or singles.
“Very exciting,” Soper said. “I didn’t know whether to cry or scream in happiness. … In 2017, we did have two kids come to states and they didn’t make it too far. But this state championship is awesome. This is like a feeling that I really will kind of take for a long time and be on a high for a while.”
Bravo and Wiese, who train at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in Port Washington, are singles players during the regular season before uniting for the postseason. They were unbeatable in this run, going 5-0 in winning the Nassau title and 5-0 in the state tournament.
Wiese is a sophomore who stands nearly 6-7. Bravo is a junior who stands at 5-8. They’re friends and they’re a combination that just works on that court. They know where each needs to be.
“Just experience,” Wiese said. “We’ve known each other for probably about eight years and been playing together for six years probably.”
“And I think that experience, playing together for so long, we’re so comfortable with each other,” Bravo said. “We’ll tell each other, ‘This is not you.’ We keep each other in check.”
Ignacio Pena Lopez was playing on the adjacent court. The sixth-seeded Ross School junior was trying to upset top-seeded Jack Reis, of Scarsdale, in the singles final after ousting the No. 3 seed and then the No. 2 seed.
But Reis took the state title via a 6-1, 6-2 victory. Pena Lopez took the setback in stride. This player from Madrid, Spain, was thrilled to be playing at the site of the US Open with its first-class facilities.
“I was really excited for this moment,” Pena Lopez said. “… I’ve been watching [the Open] on the TV since I was 5 years old.”
He admitted he was feeling tired.
“I tried my best,” Pena Lopez said. “It was not my day. But I’m happy for the tournament. Congratulations to him. He played an amazing match.”
Syosset’s third-seeded doubles team of Aayan Mehta and Nikhil Shah won the third-place match, beating No. 4 Dylan Pai and Lucas Yao, of Scarsdale 6-4,, 4-6, 6-3.
And No. 9 Vidal Macchia, of Floyd, posted the highest finish in program history, claiming the fifth-place singles match against eighth-seeded Leonardo Villacreses, of Sachem, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
