In dramatic fashion, Doral boys’ tennis upsets Palmetto for region title. Plus more tennis
This was one for the ages in South Florida high school tennis.
In dramatic fashion, the Doral Academy boys’ tennis team upset defending state champ Palmetto 4-3 for a Class 4A region title and a trip to the FHSAA state quarterfinals which begin Monday at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs.
Doral Head Coach Justin Puppo said it was one of the most exciting win in his 11 years coaching the Firebirds (boys and girls). That includes multiple district, region and state titles.
Tied at 3 at Tropicana Park, it came down to No.2 doubles: Doral’s Gabriel Cottone and Romain Azais against Palmetto’s Michael Larionov & Beau Gibson. Palmetto won the first set 4-1. (FHSAA decided to switch to two shorter sets this season in doubles).
Trailing 3-1 in the second set and down to their last point (from Palmetto winning regionals), Cottone and Azais amazingly rallied for a 5-3 set win, forcing a winner-take-all super tiebreaker.
Using the momentum from that second set comeback, Cottone and Azais took their game to a higher level, cruising to a 10-4 win to clinch the region championship. The other Firebirds then stormed the court to celebrate with their conquering heroes.
Doral jumped out to the early lead at No.2 singles as Cottone defeated Matteo Sama. The Panthers evened the score as Alessio Guarino defeated Carlos Grimaldi 6-4, 6-3 at No.4 singles. The Firebirds went ahead again (2-1) as Andy Matos defeated Gibson 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 10-4 at No.5 singles. Palmetto then evened the score at 2 as Larionov defeated Azais 2-6, 7-5, 10-2 at No.3 singles.
Ezequiel De La Plaza, Doral’s best player at No.1 singles, was still battling Palmetto’s star No.1 player Stefany Correa, who is one of the top players in Florida. De La Plaza lost the first set 7-6 (7-2), won the second set 7-5 and then won a thrilling super tiebreaker 16-14 for his best win of his high school career. That put Doral up 3-2 heading into doubles.
A very motivated Correa rallied the Panthers, evening the team score at 3 by winning No.1 doubles. Correa and Guarino defeated De La Plaza and Grimaldi 4-2, 4-2, setting the stage for the match clinching No.2 doubles battle.
Palmetto’s girls, also defending 4A state champions, beat Doral Academy 4-2 for their second consecutive region title.
Palmetto received key wins from No.3 Camille Chellas (6-1, 6-2), No.4 Arianne Rodriguez (6-0, 6-0) and No.5. Sophia Jarauta (6-3, 6-2). The No.2 doubles tandem Chellas/Rodrigues clinched the match and region championship (4-0, 4-1).
In 2A boys, MAST Academy avenged its district title loss to Gulliver Prep by edging the Raiders 4-3 for the region title. The Makos won at No.1 singles (Alessandro Sanchez) and No.5 singles (Pedro Ribas). Trailing 3-2, MAST won both doubles (Sanchez/Sebastian Felice and Pablo Lopez de Ayala/Christian Zaki) to clinch the region championship.
In 1A girls, District 16 champ True North edged District 16 runner-up Riviera Prep 4-3 for that region title.
District 14 champ Cypress Bay’s boys won the region championship with a 5-0 victory over District 14 runner-up West Broward. This marks the third consecutive region championship for the Lightning.
Singles: No.1 Sebastian Mendoza d. Leonardo Perez 6-2, 6-1; No.2 Pablo Alunni-Cobo d. Carlos Estremadoyo 6-0, 6-0; No.3 Sebastian Elias d. Michael Giron 6-2, 6-2; No.4 Jayden Bodden d. Joseph Giron 7-6, 6-2; No.5 Aarav Bansal d. Nico Giron 6-3, 6-4.
Other region championship results: BOYS: Class 3A: St. Thomas Aquinas 4, Belen Jesuit 1. Class 2A: American Heritage-Delray 4, Pine Crest 1. Class 1A: True North 4, Ransom Everglades 0.
GIRLS: Class 4A: Stoneman Douglas 5, Cypress Bay 0. Class 3A: St. Thomas Aquinas 5, Lourdes 0. Class 2A: MAST Academy 4, Gulliver Prep 1. American Heritage-Delray 4, American Heritage-Plantation 3.
The FHSAA State Tennis Championships begin Monday at Sanlando Park, Red Bug Lake Park and Sylvan Lake Park in Seminole County.
This story was originally published April 27, 2024 at 3:27 PM.
