Unfortunately, over the last few years, the Long Island High School Team Champions are the schools who have most of its strongest players participate and not necessarily which high school has the best players. After speaking with some high school coaches, I realized that the athletic director sets the mandate as to what commitment…
I see this all too often in my travels as a collegiate head coach at the State University of New York at Oneonta—many players being trained by academy pros being advised not to play high school tennis. As I also go through the many letters, notes and communication I receive from potential student/athletes wanting…
A year ago, Ryan Fishback came up short in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Singles final, falling to Oyster Bay’s Patrick Maloney in straight sets. The Geneva junior would not be denied this year, however, as he defeated Syosset’s Kabir Rajpal 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 to win the title on…
Scarsdale’s Nikolay Sahakyan and Jason Shuler won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) doubles title on Saturday, defeating the defending champions from Mamaroneck, Charlie Levinson and Connor Aylett, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. Sahakyan and Shuler had several match points in the second set tiebreaker before Levinson and Aylett rallied to win…
Syosset’s Kabir Rajpal booked his spot in the singles final of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Championships with two victories on Friday. Rajpal, the Nassau County champion, defeated Washingtonville’s Gabriel Castillo-Sanchez 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, before winning 6-3, 7-6(2) over Peter Hatton of Jamesville-Dewitt in the semifinals. “It…
A little rain could not break the high spirits of those at the Commack Tennis’ 2019 Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser, sponsored by the Schoenfeld’s Soldiers on Thursday afternoon at Commack High School. The Schoenfeld family lost a loved one to breast cancer a couple of years ago, and since then the tennis team that…
The Port Washington Vikings captured the Long Island Championship on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Half Hollow Hills East 4-3 in the title match at The Hamlet Golf & Country Club in Commack. “It feels great,” said Port Washington head coach Shane Helfner. “It’s been a really amazing season with a lot of ups and downs,…
On Monday afternoon, the Hills East Thunderbirds and Commack Cougars squared off in the Suffolk County Championship in a matchup of the county’s top two seeds, and a rematch of last year’s final. This time, however, it was Hills East who would come out on top, using the home-court advantage to reclaim the county…
With the Nassau County Championship all even at three matches a piece, Port Washington’s second doubles team of Luke Zohouri and Allon Pevzner raced out to a 5-1 lead against Miles Capell and Josh Elenowitz in the deciding third set. Capell and Elenowitz hung tough, saving an array of match points, but the deficit…
When Syosset junior Kabir Rajpal decided to return to high school tennis this season, he had goals to help lead his team to a county championship and, on a personal level, capture the county singles title. He accomplished one of those on Saturday at Eisenhower Park as he defeated Wheatley’s Karan Amin 6-1,…