3.3.2023 – Against a powerful lineup of state tennis powerhouses, the Menlo School boys’ tennis team won back-to-back Bay Area Classic Championship at home Friday.
The Knights defeated Peninsula of Rolling Hills Estates 5-2 in a NorCal vs. SoCal championship. Menlo defeated Palos Verdes 4-3, Bellarmine 7-0 and opened with a 7-0 victory over San Dieguito.
Hosted by Menlo School, Menlo-Atherton and Gunn, the Fourth Annual Bay Area Classic featured 16 teams including defending NorCal champion Menlo and defending SoCal Champion Canyon Crest.
The Classic was originally scheduled for two days but with rain in forecast, Event Director and Monta Vista Coach Gene Fortino worked with Menlo Coach Bill Shine as well as Gunn and Menlo-Atherton to start earlier, play one-set matches and move all to Friday.
In the championship match, playing Peninsula in pro sets, sophomore Cooper Han rolled to an 8-2 win at No. 2 singles and freshman Yuanye Ma won 8-4 at No. 3.
Senior Tudor Braicu came back to clinch No. 4 singles with a gutsy 8-5 win. Junior Evan Burnett rallied but fell at the always-tough No. 1 spot. Senior Nikhil Agarwal and junior Sam Engel won 8-4 at No.1 doubles. The sophomore No. 3 doubles team of Kevan Kumar and Ben Levin rolled to an 8-3 win and junior Nikhil Kothari and freshman Arki Temsamani fell 8-6 at No. 2 doubles.
Peninsula had just shut out Cupertino 7-0 while Menlo was coming off a 4-3 win over Palos Verdes in the semifinals.
In the semifinal against Palos Verdes, the singles swept with Burnett winning 6-2 at No. 1, Han 6-0 at No. 2, Ma 6-4 at No. 3 and Braicu 6-0 at No. 4. In the earlier rounds, teams played until one team won, then cleared the courts so the next round could begin, so some scores do not add to seven matches.
Menlo won the tournament in 2018, 2022 and this year - the tournament was not played in 2020 and 2021. Many of these teams will play in the National Invitation Tournament in Newport Beach laster this month.
Fourth Annual Bay Area Classic
Menlo 5, Peninsula 2
Pro set
Singles - Ferguson (P) d. Evan Burnett 8-5, Cooper Han (M) d Shuda 8-2, Yuanye Ma (M) d. Koeberle 8-4, Tudor Braicu (M) d. Shigekawa 8-5. Doubles - Sam Engel-Nikhil Agarwal (M) d. Feuer-Blanco 8-4, Bringas-Lai (P) d. Arki Temsamani-Nikhil Kothari 8-6, Ben Levin-Kavan Kumar (M) d. Kuba-Lapuente 8-3
Second round (consolation)
Homestead 5, Monta Vista 2
Monte Vista 5, Menlo-Atherton 2
Amador Valley 4, Mira Costa 2
Campolindo 6, San Dieguito 1
Cupertino 6, Redwood 1
Gunn 5, Bellarmine 2
First round consolation
Amador Valley 5, San Dieguito 0
Monta Vista 4, Menlo-Atherton 2
Homestead 5, Monte Vista 2
Mira Costa 4, Campolindo 2
First round
Menlo 7, San Dieguito 0
Bellarmine 4, Amador Valley 3
Peninsula 6, Menlo-Atherton 1
Redwood 4, Monta Vista 2
Gunn 5, Mira Costa 2
Palos Verdes 4, Campolindo 0
Cupertino 6, Monte Vista 0
Canyon Crest 4, Homestead 3