To John Brennan, each year is independent of the last. He sees his St. Francis Prep girls tennis team’s 10-year reign at the Mayor’s Cup as a collection rather than a streak.
“A lot of people think when you win 10 in a row, it’s not a big deal to win again,” Brennan said. “It is, because it’s a new team. This team hasn’t won 10 in a row. They haven’t won anything.”
The Terriers will attempt to change that Sunday.
On Saturday, top-seeded St. Francis Prep knocked off No. 8 Beacon, 5-0, in the Mayor’s Cup quarterfinals at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center. SFP, which has won a record 172 straight matches, takes on No. 4 Francis Lewis in the semifinals Sunday morning with a shot to extend its streak to 11 later in the day.
“It’s very important to us,” said first singles Kathleen Uy, who beat Sophie Zaken, 6-3, 6-1. “The people who came before us set up this whole decade of winning the Mayor’s Cup. We don’t want to be the generation to lose.”
Uy said she was almost frozen with nerves early in her match. This is her first school season playing singles – let alone first singles.
“It was very nervewracking,” she said. “It was tough. You can’t play your best when you’re tense and nervous. I could barely hit the ball back in the beginning of the match.”
She eventually took care of business, like the rest of her teammates. Ashley Masanto beat Rachel Colton, 6-0, 6-1, at second singles; Pauline Syrnik defeated Ava Paradise, 6-3, 6-1, at third singles; Katie Derienzo and Marylen Santos topped Nelle Plotkin and Tyra Booker, 6-0, 6-0, at first doubles; and Samantha Rosca-Sipot and Lisa Ventimiglia beat Michelle Naumova and Loreley Rodriguez, 6-0, 6-0, in second doubles.
SFP is the favorite once again and an overwhelming one if No. 2 Cardozo’s top two players, Leighann Sahagun and Arielle Griffin, are not able to make Sunday’s matches because of an outside tournament in New Jersey.
“Realistically, Cardozo is the one team that has a legitimate chance to beat us,” Brennan said. “They have the best doubles that I’ve seen them with. They’re very dangerous. I can see it coming down to the last match.”
Gutty Lewis beats Stuy: Despite playing on a bad knee that has bothered her most of the year, No. 5 Francis Lewis senior second singles Hikari Miyazawa pulled off a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win over No. 5 Stuyvesant’s Dina Levy-Lambert to clinch a 4-1 quarterfinals win for the Patriots. When Lewis meets St. Francis Prep in the semifinals it’ll be its first time in the final four since 2002 when it lost to SFP in the championship match.
“She had to gut it out and that’s what she’s been doing with that one leg all year,” coach Wayne Zweigbaum said. “She never complains about it. I told her she could stop any time she wanted to, but she said, ‘No, Mr. Z, I have to keep going for the team.’”
Alexis Tashiro bested Bessie Rentzler, 6-1, 6-0, at first singles; Stephanie Rances beat Irina Titova, 6-1, 6-2, at third singles; Tashrika Sharma and Joanna Haich fell to Aviva Hakanoglu and Emily Quint-Hoover, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, at first doubles; and Kim Xiong and Anamika Sharma defeated Sofia Pidzyrailo and Kayla Halvey, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, in second doubles.
“It was worth it to give it my best,” said Miyazawa, who has been foregoing treatment on her knee to continue her senior season. “I wanted to win for the team.”
Judges win: No. 2 Cardozo beat No. 7 St. Joseph Hill, 5-0, despite playing without Sahagun, who was competing at a tournament in Philadelphia. Arielle Griffin beat Victoria Pirrello, 6-0, 6-1, at first singles; Alexa Cohen defeated Sophia Varriano, 6-0, 6-1, at second singles; Steliana Fakas won at third singles by default; twin sisters Minxuan and Dexuan Yuan beat Deena Santoro and Alex Samada, 6-0, 6-1, at first doubles; and Arielle John and Olivia Poon beat Kelly Alexander and Cinzio Chinipe, 6-1, 6-1, at second doubles. The Judges meet No. 6 Brooklyn Tech in the semifinals. The Engineers earned a bye when No. 3 Goldstein dropped out.
