Staples' Hirschberg Wins in Under-18 New England Tennis Championships

Staples High School senior-to-be Daniel Hirschberg has won the consolation bracket of the New England level 3 Junior Sectional tennis championships at the Yale University courts.

The reigning CIAC Class L state champion, Hirschberg defeated No. 6 seed William Spector of Weston, Massachusetts, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, in Thursday's final.

Hirschberg dropped into the consolation bracket after losing his first match in the main draw. He reached the  quarterfinals in the consolation division without having to play a match as his first three opponents didn't show up.

In the quarterfinals, he stunned Cameron Ghorbani of Lexington, Mass., the top seed in the main draw, 6-2, 6-1. The Westporter reached the finals by besting Jesse Frieder of Providence, Providence, 6-2, 6-0, in the semifinals.

Hirschberg was seeded fourth in the main draw, but fell to Aaron Revzin of Needham, Mass., 7-6 (5), 6-4, in the opening round.

The Tennis Recruiting Network has Hirshberg ranked as the No. 2 player in New England and the 63th-best player nationally in his age group.

Hirschberg is looking at a number of top-flight academic schools, including Yale and Harvard in the Ivy League and Northwestern in the Big Ten.