Syosset boys tennis pulls out southeast regional win
Syosset celebrates their win at the NYSPHSAA boys tennis Southeast Regional final on on Wednesday in Harrison, N.Y. Credit: Neil Miller
HARRISON — The NYSPHSAA boys team tennis southeast region title large schools match between Long Island champion Syosset and Section I champ Horace Greeley was hanging in the balance. Six matches were complete and the a highly-competitive first doubles match was raging on.
Syosset's Aayan Mehta and Jacob Prince had won the first set in a tiebreaker, but Greeley’s Everett Rosenblum and Philip Childs held a 5-2 lead in the second. But backs-to-the-wall seems to be where Syosset thrives and so they did again. Mehta and Prince dug deep to get it to 5-5 and then 6-6 to force another tiebreaker.
And with a 5-4 lead and Mehta serving, the two teams waged a long rally that might have gone two minutes and that Syosset pulled out. On Mehta’s next serve, Syosset clinched a 4-3 victory with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) victory at first doubles.
“That was a big point to win and when you win a point like that at a point like that you can feel the match going your way,” Mehta said. “Jacob and I thrive under pressure. We are two of our team’s big pressure players.”
“We love being in that situation, with all eyes on us and with all our teammates cheering us on,” Prince said.
Syosset (19-1) swept all four doubles matches, gained a spot in the state semifinals that will be played at the USTA National Tennis Center on June 13 and will be seeking a third straight state championship. It appears a certainty to be the No. 1 seeded team. Syosset and Greeley are the two top teams in the state and met in the regional round because it was their turn in the rotation of sections.
“This is a match that you expect in the state championship,” said Veyd Triveti, who teamed with Aidan Maddux to win at second doubles, 6-4, 6-2. “This is two amazing teams and it’s really too bad that we both won’t play at the National Tennis Center."
There might be one more hurdle to clear for Syosset. There was a pre-match dispute between Syosset coach Shai Fisher and Greeley coach Richard Finn that could not be resolved. Each leveled a charge that the other had “stacked” their lineup, a practice where a team tanks one match by moving a played down to get an edge in another.
“This match, which was very competitive between two very good teams, was played under protest and we told everyone that before it began,” NYSPHSAA boys tennis coordinator Quan Huynh said. “The odd thing is that both teams leveled protests.”
“I think we didn’t let the controversy get in our heads,” said Shiv Chadha, who teamed with Grayson Prince to win at third doubles, 6-0, 6-0. “We came in with the right mindset: Be Syosset, do what we do and win the match.”
Loui Peredo and Anik Paul won at fourth doubles, 6-0, 6-0.
Greeley (14-3) got straight sets win at all three singles matches by Adam Fink, Idan Yedid and Henry Xue.
“Aayan and Jacob are money players and they came through when it counted,” Fisher said. “It was awesome to see.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
