Fourth singles Chase Denholm ’18 rocketed a backhand shot down the line, whipping the ball past his opponent to snag an 8-0 victory. Denholm’s wins in both his doubles and singles matches helped Andover to sweep St. Paul’s 7-0.
Jonathan Jow ’16 said, “Against St Paul’s, specifically, I think Chase played a really good game. He won his doubles match 8-0 and his singles 8-0, so he was playing really strong on that day. Chase plays really well indoors because he is just generally a power player, and when there is no conditions to interrupt his play it’s much easier for him to hit really clean shots.”
Due to terrible weather conditions, Andover played its match indoors against St. Paul’s. Andover’s games against Groton, Noble and Greenough, and Phillips Exeter Academy were all cancelled as a result of weather circumstances. Because of the long rain delay, Andover was forced to adhere to an altered game format. The teams played eight-game pro sets, in which each match consisted of only eight games.
Andover had a roaring start, dominating the early doubles matches.
First doubles Anupreeth Coramutla ’17 and Captain Chris Kralik ’17 won 8-2, second doubles Brian Niguidula ’17 and Denholm dominated 8-0, and third doubles Tyler Shen ’17 and Jow outlasted their opponents 8-4.
Denholm said, “The doubles point is so important because it sets the tone for the rest of the match. It can sometimes be the deciding factor overall in the match, so it’s important to start off strong in the doubles so you can carry on your momentum to the singles matches.”
Riding its success from the doubles matches, Andover powered through its singles matches. The first four singles won while dropping only five games. First singles Coramutla won 8-2, second singles Niguidula won 8-1, third singles Kralik won 8-2, and fourth singles Denholm won 8-0.
Fifth and sixth singles Jow and Shen beat their opponents 8-3 and 8-4, respectively.
In the singles matches, each player utilized his own unique play style to beat his opponent. Andover’s play was especially aggressive after its confident doubles point win.
Kralik said, “Every single player has their own play style and they use it whenever they play to beat whoever they play. I’m more of just an all-around aggressive player. I try to be as aggressive as I can especially going to net. Any time I get a chance, I try to attack. Chase is also aggressive. We call him a tree because he just slaps every ball as hard as he can and most of the time his opponents just can’t handle it because it’s just too big. Also, of course, I am very proud of my team for beating St. Paul’s and we hope to keep up our momentum this week.”
Andover will host Roxbury Latin on Friday, hoping to extend its current win streak to four games.
