Warrior Rackets 3-Peat as State Champs

By Eliot Schickler

Three-peat! Brookline, Let me hear you say loudly, 3-Peat.

This describes the Brookline High boys tennis team to a T after winning its third straight Division 1 State Title Wednesday, June 30. Brookline cemented its dynasty status with a 4-1 victory over Central Division Champion Westborough High at the Wayside Athletic Club (WAC) in Marlboro.

“It’s amazing,” Warriors coach Mike Mowatt said. “I’d like to dedicate it to all the people we lost in the last year [because of Covid-19]. We are also dedicating this to [senior captain] Noah [Schwartz]. He dedicated himself to the team for four years, and we’re disappointed he’s not here, [in the flesh], but he’s here in our hearts.”

Mowatt was referring to his lefty captain, who is perfect at third singles this year (he lost a doubles match to Wellesley when he was under the weather), left for Italy on the day of the match. This showdown for Division 1 supremacy had many issues in planning it and having it come to fruition.

The match was originally scheduled for Tuesday June 29 at 9 a.m., at Westboro, but because of the oppressive heat, it was postponed until the next day. If this tilt was played when it was originally scheduled, Schwartz would have played at his customary third singles position, but because of this postponement, he wasn’t able to play because he had advance plans to travel.

Brookline, who ended the season at 20-0 and raised its winning streak to 60, tried to get the championship battle to take place June 29 at an indoor court. Westborough, who finished the year at 15-1, felt that the match is designed to be played outdoors and the MIAA agreed with the hosts.

After much wrangling, the match was scheduled to be played at Westboro High at 5 p.m., but at approximately 4:45, with both teams at the site, it was deemed unsafe to play there because of the heat. Therefore, the match was moved to the indoor courts at WAC and it didn’t begin until 6:15 p.m.

“We’ve gone through a lot,” Mowatt said. “The kids were frustrated [with what went on], but they were focused on winning. We were pumped up.”

Replacing Schwartz and juggling the lineup was Mowatt’s first task before the match. He moved junior Anders St. Clair from second doubles to third singles and inserted sophomore Jacob Kapusta at second doubles in which he was paired with freshman Aarush Admala. The Warrior coach was confident in Kapusta, who was undefeated this season in the singles and doubles matches he played in.

“I told Jacob I believe in him,” Mowatt said.

And Mowatt’s faith in his sophomore was rewarded with Admala and Kapusta bouncing back from a 7-5 first set loss and delivered Brookline’s third point – which clinched the match – with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Ranger seniors Kevin Chen and Shaoqian Xiang at 8:07 p.m.

“They [Admala and Kapusta] had a good break in between [the first two sets] and I had a good talk with them,” said Mowatt on how this tandem bounced back and took control of their match. “They began the [second] set on a positive note. I told them to work on their backhand. They were flatfooted in the first set and told them not to hit it too hard.”

Admala and Kapusta dominated in all facets on the game in the last two sets. They were steady on the baseline and deftly attacked the net. The duo was also consistent serving and both of them got their serves in.

An Admala passing shot for a winner in the doubles bracket for a service break clinched the match for Brookline.

“It was a reality check [after the first set],” Admala said. “We knew we were better than them, we minimized our errors and stepped it up.”

Kapusta said, “We picked up our play [after the first set]. Aarush is great. It was a good feeling to know we clinched it.”

Getting stellar play at singles has set up the Warriors to success all year and their showdown with the Rangers in the final match of 2021 was no different – at least at the top two spots in the lineup.

Junior Jayanth Devaiah was strong for Brookline at first singles with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Westborough senior Aryan Nithawan. Nithawan is a solid player who will play for Division III Brandeis University next year and was formidable against Devaiah.

However, Devaiah, who is heavily recruited by Division I colleges for the 2022-23 school year, was much better than his Ranger opponent. The Warrior junior showed passion on the court with a few passing shots for winners from the baseline.

“He’s [Devaiah] the hardest working first singles player I know,” Mowatt said.

Devaiah also deftly came to net in which he had a few overhead forehand slams for winners. He also was effective in finding the gaps far away from Nithawan and his service game was working well as he delivered his share of service aces.

“We had a lot of energy from the start,” Devaiah said. “We wanted to win it and dedicate it for our [usual starter at] third singles player Noah Schwartz. We had to make last minute lineup adjustments and showed how resilient our team is.”

After losing the first game at second singles, Brookline senior captain dominated the rest of the way by winning 12 out of the next 13 games in a 6-1, 6-1 trouncing over Westborough junior Andrew Chen. Feldman’s serve was working well with his share of aces. The Warrior captain also ruled the baseline with consistent play and finding the gaps in placing his shots. He was also outstanding coming to net in hitting overhead forehand shots for winners.

“I just had to settle in,” Feldman said. “I had to calm down and play my game. When I got onto the court, my training took over.”

Devaiah, Feldman and Schwartz play in many United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments and their USTA training impressed Mowatt because this has enhanced their games.

“We were pumped up going into the match,” Mowatt said. “They [Devaiah and Feldman] have amazing tactics and amazing skills. They know how to play defensively and know how to work on the baseline at the net.”

St. Clair, who is a reliable player at second doubles, doesn’t have much varsity experience playing singles matches. Despite turning in an admirable, hard-working performance, junior Nishith Sura got the Rangers their only point with a 6-1, 6-0 verdict at third singles.

Senior captain Vardaan Kharbanda and freshman Dhevin Nahata got off to a good start for Brookline at first doubles for Brookline and won the first set, 6-1, over junior Ben Dubrovsky and freshman Siranjoy Gaosh. Kharbanda and Nahata led for most of the second set, but Dubrovsky and Siranjoy came back and forced a tiebreaker, which they won, 7-4.

Before the deciding third set began, the overall match outcome was in doubt, thus they played a full set. Kharbanda and Nahata grabbed a 3-2 lead, the Ranger duo bounced back in winning three straight games. The Warrior pair showed pride and won three straight games to take a 6-5 lead.

The Ranger tandem stayed alive with a service break to force a tiebreaker. However, this was only temporary. Kharbanda served well in delivering a few aces and he closed out the match with a winner to the doubles bracket in giving him and Nahata a 6-1, 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) victory.

“It’s incredible,” Kharbanda said. “There’s no words to describe it, and I enjoy playing with Dhevin. He’s a great partner.”

Nahata said, “It comes down to our will to fight. We have great chemistry. It feels incredible to come back from a 5-3 deficit in the third set.”

For Feldman, this is the third state championship match he played in and won. Choosing which title meant the most is difficult, but the most recent one might be his favorite one because of the obstacles Brookline faced. First, Covid-19 cancelled the 2020 season and the three-peat is split up by a one-year hiatus. Second, he was missing his good friend Schwartz, who has been a key part on the court during the first two championship matches.

“I knew we could do it, and it feels incredible,” Feldman said. “It feels better than I thought it would.”