Hopkins Tennis Survives Struggle with Suffield Academy

From Coach Bill Ewen:

In what has proven to be an intense rivalry in recent years, the Hopkins tennis team went on the road on April 28th to face a motivated and determined Suffield Academy team. One year ago, Hopkins managed to come through with the narrowest of 4--3 margins. This year, though Hopkins finished with a 5--2 victory, the match was closer than the final score indicates. Hopkins began with a convincing sweep of the 3 doubles contests, which together count as one point in the team contest. The Suffield team, with its back against the wall, responded in singles play by winning the first set at the #1, #2, and #5 singles positions, while Hopkins players Phil Bernasek, tri-captain Adam Sauerteig, and eighth grader David Zackheim won their first sets at the #3, #4, and #6 slots. Thankfully, these 3 players were able to sustain their momentum in their second sets in order to close out the match against their determined opponents. Suffield's very strong #1 and #2 players were then able to do the same against top Hopkins players Alex Zackheim and Lenny Kolstad. Hopkins #5 player Dan Wong was able to overcome a host of unforced errors suffered in the first set to fend off his persistent opponent in the second set and finally to survive a razor-thin battle in a third set tiebreaker 10--8. The Hopkins team must now shift gears to prepare for the Fairchester Tennis League tournaments, to be held at the Yale University courts and the Hamden Hall Country Day School courts this Friday and Saturday