Double trouble! Three Long Island girls tennis sisters advance to state quarterfinals
Anabel Van Cott of Floyd, left, celebrates a point with her sister Lydia in a first round doubles match of the state girls tennis individual championships on Monday in Flushing Meadows. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Long Island’s doubles roster is faring well in the girls tennis individual state championships, and the reason might run a bit deeper than talent and practice.
Of the six doubles teams in the championship draw, four are pairs of sisters. Many of whom breezed through the first two rounds of the tournament on Monday at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing.
Wheatley’s Sonali and Sarika Prabhakar are primarily singles players, but they teamed up for individual playoffs.
“It took some time to learn how to communicate better,” Sonali said. “But, as sisters, we know each other a little more, which I feel helps a lot. We can communicate much more easily with each other than we can with a friend.”
Though Sonali said making the switch took some adjusting, it certainly didn’t look like it on the court. The Prabhakars dominated their first-round matchup with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Beekmantown’s Sawyer Fleming and Lucy Conroy. They advanced again with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Emma and Sophia Knapp of Horace Greeley.
Great Neck North sisters Brooke and Lily Bullaro and Floyd twins Anabel and Lydia Van Cott also advanced to Tuesday’s quarterfinals. Bayport-Blue Point sisters Evangeline and Eden Romano fell to Saratoga’s Brooklyn Kelling and Nazek Gheith, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), in the first round.
Any opportunity to compete in a state championship is special. Sarika said to do it with your sister makes it even more meaningful.
“The experience of playing doubles with each other has been the most fun part,” Sarika said. “It’s more relaxing and rather than having the pressure only on you, we can rely on each other. We’re going through it as a team which makes it really fun.”
