Commack’s Liao Wins NYSPHSAA Singles Title

Since he began playing high school tennis in seventh grade, Edward Liao dreamed of one day becoming a state champion.

That dream became a reality on Sunday morning at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows as the Commack junior defeated Braeden Gelletich of Goshen 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to win the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Singles Championship.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM DAY THREE OF THE NYSPHSAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

“This feels amazing, I’ve always wanted to do this,” said Liao. “It feels like a dream come true.”

On a cold, breezy day in Queens, the three-time Suffolk County singles champion struck first in the opening set as he broke Gelletich’s serve for an early 2-1 lead. After falling behind 0-40 in his ensuing service game, Liao fought back to hold serve and then followed that up with another break of serve to take control of the opener, eventually winning it 6-2.

But Gelletich demonstrated the type of fight that got him into the finals, continuing to get deep into Liao’s service games to build a 3-0 advantage in the second set. Liao would get the set back on serve, but not before Gelletich broke him once again to claim the set and force the final into a deciding third set.

“In the second set, I was doing a little too much,” said Liao. “I needed to get back to just playing my game and being a little more neutral.”

Goshen’s Braeden Gelletich fought hard and pushed Liao to a deciding third set in the state final

With the state title on the line, Liao did just that. He got back to playing his game, and while his serve was not as effective as it typically is, he secured the key break for a 3-2 lead. After holding serve, he broke once again, and with the finish line in sight, Liao served it out, winning the final set to clinch the match and claim the state championship.

“It sucked,” Liao said when asked about his serve on Sunday. “I was like, ‘where is my serve today?’ He did a great job of getting a lot of my serves back, and it made me uncomfortable. But I’m glad I was able to pull through with some good serves in those key moments, and be a little better when I needed to be.”

Liao now becomes the first player from Commack, and the third from Suffolk County overall, to win the NYSPHSAA Boys’ singles title. He had to play three long sets in both his semifinal and final matches, and his coach, Jimmy Delevante, was proud of the way his player fought through that adversity to pull through in the end.

“I think the turning point was the second set in the semifinals [against Geneva’s Drew Fishback],” he said. “Once he got that break back for 4-4 in the second and was able to serve it out, he played a whole different level of tennis after that. His serve, his biggest weapon, wasn’t firing on all cylinders today. He had to use his other weapons to win points, and that was awesome to see. To not have a great serving day, but still play well and get a result like this, it’s outstanding.”

Stephan Gershfeld of Hewlett finished in fourth place, while Jericho’s Ajer Sher was the event’s seventh place finisher.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM DAY THREE OF THE NYSPHSAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

In the doubles championship, it was an all Section I showdown as Edgemont’s Elijah Johnson & Nicholas Peng defeated Jason Wei & Matthew Wallis 6-3, 6-4 to win the state title.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Johnson. “We knew we could do it, we just had to trust each other and play our games.”

Trusting each other is a big part of the success of Johnson & Peng. The duo doesn’t communicate a lot during points, but they have a chemistry together that allows them to stay in tune with one another.

“We just have really good chemistry and our games align with each other,” said Peng. “We don’t’ really communicate a lot during matches, but we know each other’s games and where the other is going to be. We had to focus on our returns a lot today, they were serving well, and I think we did a good job of returning those serves and getting a couple of breaks.”

The Ward Melville pairing of Gabe Bursztyn & Shashank Pennabadi finished in third place as they defeated Horace Greeley’s Benjamin Singer & Adam Fink 6-4, 6-0 in the bronze medal match.

Ward Melville’s Gabe Bursztyn & Shashank Pennabadi finished in third place at the NYSPHSAA Championships
 

The Friends Academy duo of Russell Notaris & Alistair Wright finished in sixth place, the Syosset pairing of Nikhil Shah & Devan Melandro finished in seventh place, and Westhampton Beach’s Bobby Stabile & Giancarlo Volpe finished in eighth place, to round out the Long Island results at the 2023 NYSPHSAA Individual Championships.