Hopkins Hauls in 6--1 Tennis Triumph over Kingswood--Oxford

    On Wednesday, April 27, the Hopkins boys varsity tennis team sought to extend its successful season to date in its away match with Kingswood--Oxford School of West Hartford.  Playing at K--O's indoor and outdoor tennis court complex in West Hartford with cloudy and muggy outdoor weather conditions, a decision was made to play the singles matches first (in case rain began to fall).  Coach Ewen reminded his players of Kingswood's overall success in tennis throughout the decades--during Coach Ewen's tenure at Hopkins, Hopkins' record entering today's match vs. K--O was 11 wins and 28 losses, so Coach Ewen urged his players not to take the well conditioned Kingswood--Oxford team too lightly.

    Our two team co-captains, Jerrod Dobkin and Nolan Paige, got Hopkins off to a strong and quick start.  Jerrod, playing #3, used his strong topspin forehand to dominate Kingswood's Aaron Paley,  6--1, 6--0, and #1 player Nolan Paige quickly followed suit, defeating Kingswood's game but outmatched opponent, Hunter Morgan, 6--1, 6--1.  Next it was Alec Bartimer, who braved the difficult weather conditions outside to overwhelm his K--O opponent without the loss of a single game.  Then Hopkins' #5 player, Sayer Paige, clinched the match for Hopkins with a convincing 6--1, 6--1 victory over K--O's Dmitri Adamidis.

    This left two singles players still on the court, each facing determined opponents.  At #4 singles, Michael Bartimer faced Kingswood's Jacob Appleton--a player who had defeated Michael's brother Alec in the Kingswood Invitational Tournament in early April.  The first set remained close throughout with long and hard fought baseline rallies back and forth.  When Michael finally won the first set at 6--4, Jacob's resolve began to break, and the second set went more easily to Michael, 6--2.  But at #2 singles, Kingswood--Oxford's Mark Toubman played the match of his life, playing with an inspired level of energy and purpose to thwart Russell Einbinder's attempts to fight his way back into the match, winning 6--3, 6--4.

    In the doubles, the Hopkins teams combined to make quick work of Kingswood's teams.  Nolan and Jerrod won at #1 doubles over Hunter Morgan and Aaron Paley, 8--1, while Russell teamed with Michael Bartimer at the #2 position to gain a measure of revenge vs. his singles opponent, Mark Toubman, and his partner Jacob Appleton, 6--0.  Then Sayer Paige and Alec Bartimer completed the doubles sweep, with Sayer striking precisely placed shots and Alec closing on the net to put away volleys, to win the #3 match going away,  8--0.

    Hopkins will play host to Fairchester Tennis League opponent King Low Heywood Thomas at the Hopkins courts at 4:30 PM on Friday, followed by an away match at Trinity Pawling School (NY) on Saturday at 2:30 PM.


With best regards,

William L. Ewen