Smithtown East’s Konopka Secures Second Straight Suffolk Singles Title
Playing at her own school and on the court she plays her team matches on, Smithtown East’s Anya Konopka captured her second straight Suffolk County singles title on Monday afternoon. Konopka repeated as champion with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Mt. Sinai’s Sofia Perez.
“This was the first time we’ve ever had the finals here. I live two minutes away so I was able to take a nap and then come here and play,” said Konopka. “I do enjoy playing matches on the road though, it actually helps me stay focused.”
That could have been a factor early on, as Perez came out fighting and made Konopka work for every point she got. Eventually, Perez broke to take a 5-4 advantage and had an opportunity to serve for the set.
But Konopka dug deep, and after a long deuce game, was able to grab the break back to even things at 5-5, and she never looked back. From 4-5 down, the Smithtown East senior won the final nine games of the match to defend her title.
“Sofia runs down every ball, she’s always giving 100 percent, even in practices,” said Konopka. “So I had to keep that in mind and just stay with it, and not let the mental game affect my play. I put a lot of pressure on myself in the first set, but then let it go and played freer. At 4-5, my coach told me I just need to win one more game and I’d be back in this. I was able to do that.”
Konopka said winning her second-straight title felt tougher than her first.
“Last year I was a junior and Maria [Perez] was a senior, so I knew I had another year to try for this if I lost,” she explained. “This year, she was the younger player and I was the older player, so I felt the pressure was on me.”
Konopka handled the pressure like a champion, and now heads 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 singles winner for the second consecutive year.
Joining Konopka and Perez at States will be Sofia Matos of Longwood, who defeated Copiague’s Victoria Abayev in the third-place match on Monday.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2024 SUFFOLK COUNTY INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
