Palm Desert Boys Win CIF Tennis Opener

The #1 Seeded Palm Desert boys tennis team lived up to it’s reputation, handily defeating Anaheim/Canyon 15-3 in the first round of the CIF playoffs.

The Aztecs took seven of the nine single sets with Palm Desert’s #3 Austin Rabb sweeping his three sets, while #1 Abe Hewko took two of his three sets. 

Canyon had no depth outside of their #1 singles player. Highly ranked by the USTA, Canyon senior Denis Nguyen won both sets he played (over Hewko and #2 Aidan Korros) before exiting the match.

Nguyen was substituted for after his second set, getting congratulations from his coach on not losing a set in four varsity years of high school team tennis.

Outside of Nguyen, Canyon suffered from a severe lack of quality and depth. With the match safely in Palm Desert’s favor, Canyon substituted all three singles players, bringing in players who seemed to lack confidence and experience. 

“Not much you can say about today. It’s the first step, one down,” PD Head Coach Randy Blalock told patch.com. “Now we can start looking forward to Friday.” 

With the win, the Aztecs (17-1 overall) advance on to Friday’s second round.