The Andover Boys Varsity A Tennis Team stumbled on Saturday, as it lost at home to the Choate Rosemary Hall squad by an score of 1-5. Despite close matches across the board, several of which went to three sets, Choate came out on top. With rain in the forecast for the late afternoon, the coaches decided to play the singles matches first, in the interest of time. Andrew Chan ’08, who won quickly in straight sets at number four, was the first to finish. He dominated points, as he has done all season, with his strong serve and overpowering forehand. But Chan’s performance, which gave Andover an early 1-0 advantage, was to be the team’s only victory of the day. Captain Jon Weigel ’05, having recently moved up the ladder to second singles, fell in straight sets soon after. After these two fairly clear-cut outcomes, Andover stood tied with Choate at one match a piece. A team win, it appeared, was well within reach. All four remaining matches went to three sets. Dan Wagman ’06, playing at number three, looked strong from the start. After fighting hard in the first set, he lost it in a tiebreaker. But he came up with a convincing 6-2 win in the second set. His opponent battled back, however, winning the third set 6-3. At first singles, Michael Li ’06 ran into the same player he defeated last year. But this time, the match did not turn out in Andover’s favor. Li, after splitting the first two sets, lost in the third. Down 3-1, Andover needed wins in both remaining matches. Ben Grant ’05 was engaged in a breathtaking thriller at the fifth position. After going down 6-0 in the first set, he had a remarkable 6-2 win in the second. He rarely missed, winning points off his opponent’s mistakes. Grant gave it his all in the third set, but he eventually lost in a tiebreaker. A team win was now out of the question, as Andover trailed 4-1. But Foster Jebsen ’08 continued to fight at number six, exchanging ground strokes with his opponent in lengthy baseline rallies. Jebsen split the first two sets, but he lost in the third. “Everyone fought hard. With four of the matches splitting sets, it could have gone either way,” said Chan. With the match already decided in favor of Choate, the teams decided not to play the doubles. This loss snapped Andover’s six-match winning streak, bringing its record to 8-3 on the season. Andover will look to get revenge in the team tournament this weekend.
