Boys tennis: Tough field at St. Edward Invitational serves up some tough lessons for locals

WESTLAKE — The St. Edward Invitational just might be a glimpse of postseason things to come. The tournament featured a loaded first singles draw with four returning state qualifiers and plenty of other talent scattered throughout at the Paramount Tennis Club on Saturday. St. John's (Toledo) won the team title with 42.5 points, winning every draw except first singles, where the Titans took fifth. Avon and Avon Lake — both fielding young squads beyond their first singles players — finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the eight-team field. "We have to learn from this," Avon Lake coach Grey Kennedy said. "It's our third match of the season. To play at this high level, I told them to observe their surroundings, observe this environment. I think the biggest takeaway is at everything but one singles, it's about not making mistakes. We have to have patience and learn to extend the rallies because the players who win, absent one singles of course, are the ones who just don't make mistakes." For seniors A.J. Sidoti (Avon), a three-time state qualifier, and Marc Grozav (Avon Lake), a 2023 district qualifier, first singles was an early test as seven of the eight competitors will compete for a spot in the Northeast district tournament. Grozav drew Hudson's Henrique Sa, the defending Northeast district champion, in the opening round and lost 6-0, 6-0. Grozav lost his consolation semifinal to St. Edward senior Sean Curran, an Avon Lake resident and returning district qualifier, 8-6. Curran was replaced by Ethan Esteves for his fifth-place match because of an injury. Sidoti tied for the best finish among Lorain County participants at the tournament, taking fourth. He opened his day with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Nathan Tam, a returning Northwest district qualifier. All four returning state qualifiers — Sa, Sidoti, Zach Krantz (Solon) and Xander Jhaveri (Westlake) — reached the semifinals and delivered some elite tennis. Jhaveri, who finished third at the Division I state doubles tournament last season with partner Rohit Jain, prevailed 6-3, 6-2. He won the final 7-5, 6-2 over Sa, who defeated Krantz 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals. Sidoti elected to default his third-place match to Krantz because his semifinal was his third match in less than 24 hours. He faced Revere's Finn Keenan — a returning state qualifier — in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association state team tournament on Friday. Their match was not completed just before playing a second-set tiebreaker because Avon had clinched the team victory. Keenan was up a set. "I've got some stuff to work on," Sidoti said. "I'm competing pretty well. Finn and Xander are really good. It's too bad I didn't get to finish with Finn because that was a really fun match. Xander played ridiculous today. He just couldn't miss. I made him work, but it was tough. He's just going to try as hard as he can every point. You can hit the best shot of your life and he's still going to get it back. You just have to keep doing it over and over again." Four out of Avon Lake's five participants lost in the opening round. The only ones to advance were Caleb Johnson and Spencer Sexstella at second doubles. Playing together for the first time, the duo defeated Avon's Ashton Schwanger and Connor Till, 3-6, 6-2 (10-7). Johnson and Sexstella fell 6-0 in the first set of their semifinal against Westlake's Rishabh Ranjan and Jaden Jang but had a chance to serve out the second set up 4-3. Westlake broke back, and eventually forced a tiebreak. The Demons took a 6-0 lead before prevailing 7-3. Brandon Anthony also placed for the Shoremen, finishing sixth at third singles after a tense 9-8 (2) win against Avon's Grant Nagy, who was an injury replacement for freshman Blake Netschke. "It was a pleasant surprise," Kennedy said. "They're both great players. They both understand the game and they had great chemistry. I'm very proud of them. They do a good job of listening, being coach and figuring out the game plan. I think they were a little nervous at first, but once that wore off they were able to hang against all of their opponents." Other Avon placers were the first doubles team of Avery Barrett and Bidwat Mishra, which took sixth, and freshman Aarav Kishorepuria, who was took fifth at second singles. Kishorepuria had an impressive run through the back draw after losing a tough opening-round match 6-2, 6-3 to St. Edward's Zorad Vasarhelyi. Kishorepuria defeated Avon Lake's Ryan Suh 8-4 in the consolation semifinals and rallied for a 9-7 win against Solon's Ashwin Ramachandran, a returning district qualifier in doubles. "He had a really good week," Avon coach Eric Korey said of Kishorepuria. "Every match he played I saw some progress. He's starting to learn what his strengths are and what he does best. He's still real new to this game. He's played some USTA tournaments, but not many. He had a really good win against an experienced player yesterday (vs. Revere). I thought he had a tough first draw match today, but he answered with two big wins." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. TEAM STANDINGS: 1. St. John's (Toledo) 42.5, 2. Westlake 29, 3. Hudson 24.5, 4. Solon 19.5, 5. Walsh Jesuit 14, 6. St. Edward 13, 7. Avon 7.5, 8. Avon Lake 5.FIRST SINGLES: Final — Xander Jhaveri (Westlake) def. Henrique Sa (Hudson), 7-5, 6-2; Third — Zach Krantz (Solon) def. A.J. Sidoti (Avon), retired; Fifth — Nathan Tam (St. John's) def. Ethan Esteves (St. Edward), 8-0. Note: Esteves was an injury replacement for Sean Curran, who participated in the first two matches. SECOND SINGLES: Final — Miles Green (St. Johns) def. Zelin Shen (Hudson), 6-3, 6-5; Third — Zorad Vasarhelyi (St. Edward) def. Colson Milovich (Westlake), 8-6; Fifth — Aarav Kishorepuria (Avon) def. Ashwin Ramachandran (Solon), 9-7. THIRD SINGLES: Final — Adam Darwich def. Justin Reimschisel (Solon), 6-3, 6-4; Third — Kyle Vaziri (St. Edward) def. Joseph Demboski (Walsh), 8-4; Fifth — Frederick Li (Hudson) def. Brandon Anthony (Avon Lake), 8-0. FIRST DOUBLES: Final – Drew Eckel-Logan McGurk (St. John's) def. Nathan Ho-Graham Coleman (Westlake), 6-1, 6-4; Third — Blake Sladky-Raphi Botros (Hudson) def. Nathan Pate-Cruz-Alex Behm (Walsh), 8-1; Fifth — Arthur Azhibekov-Ethan Ma (Solon) def. Avery Barrett-Bidwat Mishra, 8-6. SECOND DOUBLES: Final — Zenonn Zaleski-Kameel Mawad (St. John's) def. Rishabh Ranjan-Jaden Jang (Westlake), 6-1, 6-2; Third — (Walsh) def. Caleb Johnson-Spencer Sexstella (Avon Lake), 8-3. Fifth — William Wang-Yuahn Kong (Solon) def. Chase Pinnow-MattGalosi (Hudson), 8-5.