Justin Vijungco wasn’t completely confident Saturday afternoon.
The Forest Hills first singles hadn’t practiced since Wednesday because he was studying for exams. Plus, on the other side of the court would be St. Francis Prep’s David Arroyave, a close family friend and someone he took just four games from in a tournament a few months ago.
“I didn’t expect myself to play that well today,” Vijungco said.
He was right in the beginning. But Vijungco found a second gear after being down a first set break point. The passionate, histrionic junior finished with a flurry to beat Arroyave, 7-5, 6-1, and No. 6 Forest Hills went on to upset No. 3 St. Francis Prep, 3-2, in the Mayor’s Cup boys tennis quarterfinals at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.
“I was very proud of him,” coach Ira Wolin said. “He was fired up. In the second set, he really stepped it up. He brought his game to a higher level than I’ve seen.”
Forest Hills will meet second-seeded Horace Mann in the semifinals Sunday, but from here on out everything is gravy. The Rangers were seeded sixth in the PSAL Class A playoffs and upset No. 3 Brooklyn Tech to reach the semifinals. They’ve enjoyed one of the best seasons in porgram history after going just 4-8 last year.
“It’s really amazing,” Vijungco said. “We applied ourselves. We just fought so hard to do it.”
In his first year coaching boys tennis at Forest Hills, Wolin considers himself fortunate. Second singles Stefan Ilic decided to return to the team after a one-year hiatus, third singles Bahrom Matyakubov made his high-school tennis debut this season as a senior and two freshman – the first doubles pair of Michael Jasienowski and Jonathan Selegean – have exceeded expectations.
On Saturday, Ilic beat Chris Jimenez, 6-3, 6-2, at second singles and Michael Tal and Xun Long Zhang defeated Dillon Hogan and Chris Zipf, 6-3, 6-4, at second doubles to go along with Vijungco’s big win. St. Francis Prep’s Laurent Octobre beat Matyakubov, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2, and Kilby Featherston and Joe Henehan defeated Selegean and Jasienowski, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
“They’ve done all you could ask,” Wolin said.
Lineup change helps Judges: After a PSAL Class A city title match loss to Beacon, Cardozo coach Howie Arons decided to move Roland John from third singles to second singles and Hugh Mo down from second to third.
“I moved [John] up to motivate the team,” Arons said. “What else am I here for? I’m not a roving secretary.”
The switch paid dividends Saturday. John beat Clay Robertson, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2, to help lead No. 4 Cardozo to a 3-2 win over No. 5 Riverdale. Jon Raude beat Kabir Melwan, 6-0, 6-3, at first singles and Mo beat Harry Schaaff, 6-3, 6-2. Both doubles teams lost to the Falcons just like they did to Beacon, the top-seeded team that Cardozo meets Sunday in the semifinals.
“With a full Beacon team, I’m not saying [the switch] gives us a better chance,” Arons said. “It gives us a different chance.”
No. 1 Beacon 4, No. 8 Fordham Prep 1: Christian Waldron beat Andrew Zapata, 6-2, 6-1, at first singles; Jeremy Schur beat Chris LeBlanc, 6-2, 6-1, at second singles; Jake Aronson and Leo Bolshakov beat Andrew Calamara and Brian Jost, 6-3, 6-1, at first doubles; and Justin Fields and Daniel Segan beat Matt Khoury and William Sanders, 6-3, 6-1, at second doubles.
Oscar Magalong was responsible for the lone Fordham Prep win, beating Bradley Girigorie, 6-2, 6-0, at third singles. Girigorie was filling in for first singles Quinton Vega, who was competing in the NYSPHAA tournament. He finished second there – the highest of any PSAL player.
No. 2 Horace Mann 4, No. 7 Bronx Science 1: Andrew Arnaboldi beat Spencer Chan, 6-2, 6-1, at second singles; Steven Hefter beat Kristofer Doerfler, 6-2, 6-2, at third singles; Kurdis Rhee and Soren Zeligco beat Alex Blass and Jordan Selig, 6-3, 6-1, at first doubles; and Alex Perry and Dan Elkind defeated Alex Cai and Ben Erichsen, 6-2, 6-2, at second doubles. Anthony Assal was the lone Bronx Science victory, beating Brenton Arnaboldi, 6-3, 6-2, at first singles.
