Bayport-Blue Point’s Romano Sisters Capture Suffolk County Doubles Championship
A year ago, Emilia and Evie Romano of Bayport-Blue Point came up just short in pursuit of the Suffolk County doubles title, falling to eventual New York State Champions Matilda Buchen & Julia Stabile of Westhampton Beach in the finals.
This time around, however, playing a Westhampton Beach pairing once again, this time Buchen & Ava Borruso, the Romanos would not be denied. Utilizing the effective strategy of Evie at the baseline and Emilia at net, the two captured the county doubles title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory in the finals at Smithtown East High School on Monday afternoon.
“It feels really good to win this,” said Emilia. “Last year was really upsetting and we’ve been thinking about it ever since. We wanted to come back, try our hardest and we knew we could do it.”
With Evie remaining consistent rallying from the back, and Emilia being incredibly aggressive putting points away at the net, the Romanos dictated the play throughout the match.
“She’s the stronger baseline player, and I’m stronger at net. You put those two together and you have a doubles team,” said Romano. “Our games complement each other very well. Evie set me up the entire time; if she gave the other team a bad ball I wouldn’t be able to put it away. In the semifinals, we were setting each other up perfectly, and I knew we could carry that over into the match today.”
Evie added:
“Her being aggressive poaching at net makes things easier for me, and she helps me stay confident throughout the matches. We told ourselves we could get here and win this.”
The Romanos will now head to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Individual Championships, which run from Monday, October 28 – Wednesday, October 30 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, as the Suffolk champions. Joining them will be Buchen & Borruso, as will the Ross School duo of Luanna Carmo & Lillien Weiss, who defeated Emma Wilck & Samantha Heyman of Hills East in the third-place match.
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