*To view the Class 2A and 4A FHSAA Tennis State Championship Recap, Click Here.
The 2023 Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Tennis State Championships have come to a close, with Classes 1A and 3A competing across the week of April 24. Taking place at Red Bug Lake, Sylvan Lake, and Sanlando Park, players and teams from across the state.
There are Team and Individual brackets that players compete in. As part of the Team Draw, the No. 1 line for each team will compete in the Team’s Individual bracket, where the winner will match up against the player that won the Individual bracket. The winner of that match will become the Overall Champion for that specific class (Team’s Individual Draw winner against Individual Draw winner).
Tennis 1A and 3A State competition took place this week.
Class 1A
Kicking off the championship on Monday, was class 1A. The biggest storyline lived in 1A as Saint Andrew’s Girls went for their seventh straight title and the Boys for their fourth in-a-row.
The Boys’ team handled business quite well. Their toughest match came in the quarterfinals, where they faced off against True North Academy. Saint Andrew’s and True North split the doubles matches, with True North taking the top line. Brennon Chow also won the top line in singles for True North, putting the pressure on. However, Saint Andrew’s was able to bounce back in the other matches to take the series 4-2.
Over the next two matches, Saint Andrew’s only dropped one line in each series. They took down Out-Of-Door-Academy in the semifinals and then beat Pensacola Catholic in the championship. This secured the Boys’ team with their fourth Team State Title in-a-row.
Over in the Girls’ draw, Saint Andrew’s also played True North Academy in the quarters. True North jumped out to an early lead, winning both doubles lines. Alba Martinez and Daniela Chica, the top line for True North, took their match in a tiebreaker. Martinez also defeated Alexia Cleveland 1-4, 4-1, 11-9 to help True North take down the six-time defending champs 5-0.
The battle for 1A was heating up early on in the tournament.
The team rode this momentum into their next match against Community School, where they took down another top team in a 4-2 effort. The championship was no different, as True North handled Pensacola Catholic in a 4-0 sweep, giving them their first State Championship in the young school’s history.
The 1A individual brackets were also highly entertaining. For the Boys, top seeded Chase Healey (Christ Church Academy) met up with Max Pettingell (St. Stephen’s) in a highly anticipated clash to play for the Overall title. Pettingell had a close match in the semis, winning 10-7 in a final set tiebreaker. However, this match was all Healey as he found a couple breaks to win both sets 4-2. He then faced Brennon Chow, where he defeated him to become the Overall Champion. Chow, however, with the help of his duo Gabriel Valdes, was able to take down Pettingell and Ricardo Perazzolo Da Silveira Jr. In the Overall Doubles final.
In the Girls Team’s Individual draw, Pensacola Catholic’s Gabriella Goyins didn’t drop a set as she locked her spot in the Overall finals. Her foe, unseeded and 8th Grader, Abigail Gordon (Grandview Prep), rode the underdog story through the Indvidual draw. Abigail took down top seeded Heidi Bulger (Boca Raton Christain) 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 to start her run. She then handled her semifinals match, winning 4-1 in both sets. In the Individual finals, she faced Harper High (Berkeley Prep), and once again Abigial came out strong, winning the opening set 4-2 and the second 4-1, to set up a date with Gabriella Goyins in the finals. The Cinderella run continued for Abigail as she took down Goyins, becoming one of the youngest to win an Overall State Title.
For the Overall Doubles, Community School’s Lily Dounchis and Sophia Min, took down Avril Rodriguez and Anna Kettlewell (Divine Savior). However, on their way to the Overall finals the Divine Savior pair took down some tough opponents, like top seeded Emily Macri and Megan Vegas (Maclay).
Full Results:
- Boys Team Champions: Saint Andrew’s
- Boys Team Finalist: Pensacola Catholic
- Girls Team Champions: True North Academy
- Girls Team Finalist: Pensacola Catholic
- Boys Overall Singles Champion: Chase Healey, Christ Church Academy
- Boys Overall Singles Finalist: Brennon Chow, True North Academy
- Boys Overall Doubles Champions: Brennon Chow/Gabriel Valdes, True North Academy
- Boys Overall Doubles Finalist: Max Pettingell/Ricardo Perazzolo Da Silveira Jr., St. Stephens
- Girls Overall Singles Champion: Abigail Gordon, Grandview Prep
- Girls Overall Singles Finalist: Gabriella Goyins, Pensacola Catholic
- Girls Overall Doubles Champions: Lily Dounchis/Sophia Min, Community School
- Girls Overall Doubles Finalist: Avril Rodriguez/Anna Kettlewell, Divine Savior
Class 3A
The competition in 3A kept pace with the rest of the field and delivered some incredible matches over the course of the week.
The Boys’ team bracket was dominated from start to finish by Wiregrass Ranch. The team put on a historic performance. Dating back to the start of Regionals, the team only dropped one single line. They ran through the state tournament defeating Seabreeze 4-0, Ponte Vedra 4-0, and St. Thomas Aquinas 5-0.
The Girl’s bracket saw a similar fate, St. Thomas Aquinas and Auburndale rolled through their first two matches. Aquinas and Auburndale both swept their opening series and rode that momentum into the semis, where both teams won their matches 4-1. The championship was back and forth, but ultimately St. Thomas pulled away. Both doubles lines traded off games at the start, but Aquinas ran away with both lines. In the top singles match Chloe Fouhety (STA) and McKenna Battilla (Aburn) went toe-to-toe. Chloe took the opening set 5-3, but McKenna battled back to claim the second one 5-3 as well. In the tiebreaker, Chloe was able to pull away and win 10-3, which helped STA win the series 5-0 and back-to-back titles.
Auburndale came up just short in the 3A Girls’ Finals.
In the Girls’ Individual bracket Lyla Messler from Osceola, dominated competition, dropping two games in her first four matches. This gave her a spot in the Overall Finals against Chloe Fouhety, who won the Team’s Individual draw. Lyla got ahead early, sweeping the opening set 6-0. The second set saw the two going back and forth, but ultimately, Lyla was able to find a break and win 7-5. For Doubles, Mirabelle Tahiri and Nandini Karanam from Lecanto won after Chloe and her partner Sasha Cartagena retired, due to injury prior to the match starting. The Lecanto pair went on a tear in the bracket, winning their matches, 8-0, 8-1, and 8-2.
For the Boys’ Ian Nicodemus from Leon entered as the top seed, and he was put to the test. His opening match was against Nicholas Arana (Belen Jesuit), which went all the way to a tiebreaker set. It was back and forth, but Ian was able to sneak out a 11-9 win. His second match saw similar fate, where Alex Lloyd (Hillsborough) took him to another tiebreaker. Once again Ian was able to pull out the victory, this time 10-5. In the Individual finals, Ian matched up against Patrick Dong (Gainesville). To keep the theme alive, the match also went to a tiebreaker after the two exchanged the opening sets. This was the closest match of the entire bracket as they found themselves tied 10-10. Ian rallied off two straight points and secured his spot in the Overall finals against Ninad Raut (Winegrass Ranch). Raut, who had won the team title, carried his momentum to defeat Ian 6-0, 6-2. Raut was also in the Overall Doubles finals with Vladislav Shumakov, where they defeated Ryan Roberson and Cole Armstrong (Fort Walton Beach) 8-2.
Full Results:
- Boys Team Champions: Wiregrass Ranch
- Boys Team Finalist: St. Thomas Aquinas
- Girls Team Champions: St. Thomas Aquinas
- Girls Team Finalist: Auburndale
- Boys Overall Singles Champion: Ninad Raut, Winegrass Ranch
- Boys Overall Singles Finalist: Ian Nicodemus, Leon
- Boys Overall Doubles Champions: Ninad Raut/Vladislav Shumakov, Winegrass Ranch
- Boys Overall Doubles Finalist: Ryan Roberson/Cole Armstrong
- Girls Overall Singles Champion: Lyla Messler, Osceola
- Girls Overall Singles Finalist: Chloe Fouhety, St. Thomas Aquinas
- Girls Overall Doubles Champions: Mirabelle Tahiri/Nandini Karanam, Lecanto
- Girls Overall Doubles Finalist: Chloe Fouhety/Sasha Cartagena, St. Thomas Aquinas
