Sports
Boys Tennis Loses To Staples In FCIAC Semis
The Tigers fell, 4-0, on a 94-degree day in Westport.
Battling the sweltering heat was one thing for the Ridgefield High School boys' tennis. Facing the top-ranked team in the state was quite another matter.
The Tigers fell to undefeated Staples, 4-0,Wednesday afternoon in the FCIAC semifinals at the steamy Wreckers' courts and now prepare for the state tournament that begins next week.
Staples will take on New Canaan in the finals on Thursday afternoon at Wilton High School.
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The teams battled sweltering heat Wednesday as the temperature reached 94 degrees in Westport when the match started at 4 p.m., probably closer to 100 on the courts.
"That's why we do the conditioning," Ridgefield coach Jonathan Buchman said. "It's the same for both sides. That's why we do the conditioning. It's part of the game and you just got to battle through the elements, and we battled a great team on top of that."
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The player who seemed the least affected by the conditions was junior Danny Hirschberg, the Wreckers' No. 1 singles player, who cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Zach Passman.
Hirschberg's brother, Jake, a freshman, defeated Keith Beizer, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 4 singles. Cam Marco, another freshman, bested Shane Lovallo, 6-3, 6-1, in the third singles and Graham Hyman posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Andrew Pollack
at No. 5 singles.
According to postseason rules, all matches under way are suspended when a team wins four matches and thereby assumes an insurmountable lead. Three matches were stopped Tuesday.
Ridgefield was poised to win the No. 1 doubles, as the duo of Greg Jacob and Oliver Murray led Ken McDonald and Jordan Ratner, 4-6, 1-5.
Staples' No. 2 doubles tandem of Alex Ratner and Sam Hickok was leading Soichi Hirokawa and Mike DePrima, 6-1, when the players were called off the court.
The most competitive match of the day could have been the No. 2 singles, if it had been allowed to continue. Staples' Jesse Heussner was ahead of Arnaud Valentin, 7-5, 1-2, when play was stopped. Valentin was up, 5-4, and serving for the opening set before Heussner rallied to win the final three games.
Buchmn felt this match was more competitive than Staples' 6-1 win in Ridgefield earlier in the season.
"I thought it was a well-contested match, better than it was at our place during the regular season, but they're a great team," he said.
