Concord-Carlisle Tennis Champ Wins Again

In a repeat of last year's state championship tennis match, Concord-Carlisle High School junior Alex Steinroeder defeated a banged-up Aaron Revzin from Needham High School, his training partner.

Revzin, a Needham sophomore, hung right with Steinroeder for the first two sets Saturday at Clark University and even appeared to be in control of the match entering the third. However, that's when Revzin's ailing back flared up, visibly taking him off his game.

"I thought I played really well considering the circumstances," he said. "The first and second sets were the best tennis I've played. I thought I could've won if I wasn't cramping-up."

Revzin would lose 6-7, 6-2, 1-6, making Steinroeder a two-time singles state champion. Steinroeder won last year's contest 7-5, 6-3.

Revzin hurt his back before the team South sectional final against Wellesley the previous Saturday. He went onto win his match, but the team lost. He has been limited in practice since.

In the third set, down 4-0, he used a medical timeout after slipping and not being able to get up. "I couldn't really walk, couldn't really step into my shots," he said of the third set.

The final frame wasn't pretty on either side, as near the end of the second set, Steinroeder also began getting cramps, in his legs. The pair had very few long points after that.

Revzin's coach, Drew Lawrence, said he was impressed with both competitors' drive and determination.

"[Steinroeder] was able to come back time after time after time during games," he said, "and not on errors by [Revzin] but by hitting good solid points and playing a little more aggressive."

Revzin said he knew he needed to get the ball deep against his training partner because Steinroeder always hits winners on short shots.

"I've played him so many times," he said. "I knew exactly what I needed to do to beat him, and I almost did it."

In the first set, Revzin was actually leading 4-0 before dropping four consecutive games. He ultimately lost the tiebreaker 7-3.

Earlier in the day, he beat West champion Chris Barnhardt, a Longmeadow senior, 6-1, 7-5, in the semi-finals. Steinroder advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 win over freshman Chris Ellis of St. John's Shrewsbury.

Steinroeder's teammates, seniors Hayden Callahan and Alec Ahee, lost the doubles final, 6-2, 1-6, 5-7, Saturday to Wellesley's Gordon Peters and Alex Robertson.