Berkley Boys Tennis Team Aims for State Finals

boys varsity tennis head coach Lenny Waldman thought he would have a good team this season, not necessarily a great one; turns out he was wrong.

The Bears finished the regular season 8-1 with a perfect 5-0 record in the Oakland Activities Association Blue division. At the Blue league tournament on Sept. 27 at Harrison, they accomplished something no other tennis team at Berkley ever had.

“Not only did we win, but the cool thing is we went to the finals on all eight courts and won them all,” Waldman said. “Technically, the guys played twice that day, so they were 16-0, it was a good day. We’ve never had that happen before.”

How’d the group go from good to great? Waldman said it was the addition of four first-year players during the offseason.

The Bears also brought back a solid core from last season, including Ian Kobernick their No. 1 singles player, but the addition of three freshman and a foreign exchange student has given the team a depth Waldman hasn’t had in his six years coaching the program.

“I have three freshmen on this varsity team and I’ve never had three freshmen in a starting position before,” Waldman said. “I’m really proud of them. They’ve been tearing up the courts against good schools and beating good schools.”

Freshman Noah Kretchmer has taken over at No. 1 singles and only has two losses this year.

“It’s hard to step up (as a freshman) and do that,” Waldman said. “He looks so young. People come and ask me, 'how old is he?' But his stature isn’t reflective of his determination or ability. He just goes out there and plays.”

Kobernick is now at No. 3 singles and put together a perfect season so far. He is undefeated and Waldman called him the team’s “rock” this year.

At No. 2 singles, is Simone Merendi. He’s a senior transfer student from Italy. During the summer, Merendi’s host family called Waldman to tell him Merendi played tennis four days a week and would like to come out for the team.

“He has a huge serve,” Waldman says. “He is a tenacious player. He plays a very European style of tennis, that is serve and volley, and he really likes coming up to the net.”

Berkley’s No. 1 doubles team is junior Jim Demery and freshman Adam Edery. Waldman put the two together at the beginning of the season and it has paid off. They are playing well together and are a very aggressive pairing.

On Thursday, Berkley will try for another significant accomplishment. It will try to qualify for the state finals as a team for the first time since 1984. The Bears are in the Groves regional with teams including Groves, Seaholm, University of Detroit Jesuit and Southfield.

“We are kind one of those upper-to-middle tougher regionals,” Waldman said.

He said Groves is probably the frontrunner in the region, but that his team definitely has a shot at qualifying for the finals. Berkley needs to win enough matches to get 18 points to advance.

All his players have buys in the first round and that will get the Bears eight points right at the start if they can all win their second round matches. Waldman said the key will be for one of his singles players to win their bracket. He said Kobernick has a real chance of winning the No. 3 singles.

Whether Berkley qualifies or not, the team has reason to be optimistic. The Bears are bringing back 11 of their 12 starters next season.

"We are optimistic," Waldman said. "But win or lose, this is an exciting time for Berkley tennis."