Cold Spring Harbor Duo Wins Second Consecutive Doubles Championship

May 19, 2014 | By Gary Simeone
Photo credit: Gary Simeone

The Cold Spring Harbor doubles team of Conor Mullins & JP Paris were in familiar territory at the Nassau County Boy's Tennis Championship on Saturday morning at Oceanside High School. The two seniors, who won the finals last season, were squared up against the tough Syosset duo of Henry Tell & Dylan Granat. After winning the opening set 6-0 and dropping the next set, 3-6, Mullins & Paris picked up the pace to win the final set, 6-3 and take their second straight County Championship.

"We opened up with a strong first set, and to their credit, they played well in the second," said Mullins. "In the third, we just tried to focus on making shots and tried to hit one more ball on the court than they did."

Paris, who said he was running on an hour's sleep after attending the prom the night before, wanted to get off to a strong start against the Braves.

"We played really well to start out and had a little letdown in the second," said Paris. "Like Conor said, we just focused on trying to make our shots in the third."

Cold Spring Harbor’s duo beat the Garden City duo of Tim Nacca & Rob Gavigan in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-1 to earn their berth in the finals. Syosset’s tandem beat Massapequa's team of Andrew Bentz & Nasser Ghaffar, 6-4, 6-3 in the semis.

The singles final was not nearly as competitive as the doubles, with Port Washington's Ben Rosen defeating Plainview-JFK's Yuval Solomon in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.

"We had a lot of really close games, and I had to grind it out with him out there," said Rosen, who was playing in his final county championship as a senior. "Yuval is a great retriever, and I had to be smart with my shot selection against him."

Despite losing in straight sets, Solomon is only a freshman and will have plenty of opportunities ahead to redeem himself over the next few years.

Rosen beat Sewanhaka's Keegan Morris 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinal round and Solomon knocked off Locust Valley's Dylan Appel, 6-0, 6-2.

In the consolation matches for third place and a slot in the State Championships, Appel defeated Morris 6-1, 6-3 in singles, while Bentz & Ghaffar knocked off Nacca & Gavigan in a tightly contested doubles match, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Rosen, Solomon and Appel all qualified for the State Finals in the singles draw, and on the doubles side, Mullins & Paris, Tell & Granat, and Bentz & Ghaffar all qualified for states as well.

The State Finals will begin Thursday, March 29th at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

 

 

 

 

 

Plainview-JFK Freshman Yuval Solomon fell in the singles finals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Locust Valley's Dylan Appel qualified for the State Championships with a win in the consolation match over Sewanhaka's Keegan Morris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Garden City duo of Tim Nacca & Rob Gavigan in action in the Nassau County semifinals 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Port Washington's Ben Rosen was a winner in straight sets to capture the 2014 Nassau County Singles Championship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Gary Simeone
Writing Intern/Public Relations Associate

 Gary Simeone is writing intern/public relations associate for Long Island Tennis Magazine.

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