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Vega, Blue Demons win first-ever Mayor's Cup title
By Marc Raimondi May 31, 2009
Beacon sophomore Quinton Vega beat Cardozo junior Jon Raude, 6-2, 7-6 (5), at first singles. Photo by Baiju Thakkar
Quinton Vega had it sewn up, or so it seemed. The Beacon sophomore was serving for the match, but Jon Raude wasn’t going to let it go without a fight. The Cardozo junior had beaten Vega in the PSAL Class A city championship already.
Raude fought back from a game down to force a second-set tiebreaker. It didn’t rattle Vega, though. He took a deep breath, calmly took control of the match and led No. 1 Beacon to its first Mayor’s Cup boys’ tennis championship over No. 2 Cardozo, 3-2, on Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing.
“He won all the big points,” Blue Demons coach Bayard Faithfull said. “He kept fighting back, fighting back. He’s a fighter. … That was the decisive match for us.”
Vega beat Raude, 6-2, 7-6 (5), and both doubles teams won for Beacon. The latter was the case against Cardozo in the PSAL title match, but Raude got the better of Vega that day.
“I had a lot of motivation to get revenge,” Vega said.
The Blue Demons were ultra motivated to win the Mayor’s Cup. They have taken home three of the last four PSAL city titles, but have never won against the CHSAA and private schools before in this tournament. Last year, they fell to Horace Mann, the team they beat in the semifinals Sunday.
Besides Vega, the doubles victories were key. Christian Waldron and Jeremyah Schur beat Roland John and Petros Georgiou, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, at first doubles and Linton and Jake Aronson defeated Kevin Lee and Christian Georges, 6-0, 6-2, at second doubles.
“Now it feels like we can finally say we’re the best in the city,” senior second singles Jon Franzel said.
The win meant most to Franzel and first doubles player Khari Linton, who have been at Beacon since their freshman year. Vega and senior third singles Hannah Berner both transferred in from tennis academies.
“I’m really happy for the seniors – this caps our best year ever,” Faithfull said. “These kids have established themselves as one of the best teams on the Eastern seaboard.”
Cardozo junior Wei Cheng Lin beat Franzel, 6-3, 6-4, at second singles and Judges freshman Hugh Mo beat Berner, 4-6, 7-5, (6) in a strange match that was meaningless to Beacon winning the title. Mo was cramping up throughout and Berner allowed him to play against her in a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a full third set.
Berner’s presence had been a controversial topic since Judges coach Howie Arons spoke out about her being allowed on the Beacon boys’s team after the PSAL championship. The school does not have a girls’ team. Berner beat John in that final, but Arons switched his lineup around, moving John to first doubles and Mo, a skilled freshman, to third singles.
The coach said the move worked and Berner contended that Mo was more mentally strong than John, who broke his racket after the loss. But it didn’t matter.
“They didn’t need a girl to win the whole thing,” Berner said with a laugh.
No, but they did need Vega. Arons said it was tough to ask Raude to beat a player of Vega’s quality again. The Blue Demons are certainly happy it went their way.
“Quinton has unparalleled talent,” Franzel said. “He can go in there and hit with the pros.”
For now, he’s more than happy with beating Raude and winning the Mayor’s Cup title.
mraimondi@fiveborosports.com
Raude fought back from a game down to force a second-set tiebreaker. It didn’t rattle Vega, though. He took a deep breath, calmly took control of the match and led No. 1 Beacon to its first Mayor’s Cup boys’ tennis championship over No. 2 Cardozo, 3-2, on Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing.
“He won all the big points,” Blue Demons coach Bayard Faithfull said. “He kept fighting back, fighting back. He’s a fighter. … That was the decisive match for us.”
Vega beat Raude, 6-2, 7-6 (5), and both doubles teams won for Beacon. The latter was the case against Cardozo in the PSAL title match, but Raude got the better of Vega that day.
“I had a lot of motivation to get revenge,” Vega said.
The Blue Demons were ultra motivated to win the Mayor’s Cup. They have taken home three of the last four PSAL city titles, but have never won against the CHSAA and private schools before in this tournament. Last year, they fell to Horace Mann, the team they beat in the semifinals Sunday.
Besides Vega, the doubles victories were key. Christian Waldron and Jeremyah Schur beat Roland John and Petros Georgiou, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, at first doubles and Linton and Jake Aronson defeated Kevin Lee and Christian Georges, 6-0, 6-2, at second doubles.
“Now it feels like we can finally say we’re the best in the city,” senior second singles Jon Franzel said.
The win meant most to Franzel and first doubles player Khari Linton, who have been at Beacon since their freshman year. Vega and senior third singles Hannah Berner both transferred in from tennis academies.
“I’m really happy for the seniors – this caps our best year ever,” Faithfull said. “These kids have established themselves as one of the best teams on the Eastern seaboard.”
Cardozo junior Wei Cheng Lin beat Franzel, 6-3, 6-4, at second singles and Judges freshman Hugh Mo beat Berner, 4-6, 7-5, (6) in a strange match that was meaningless to Beacon winning the title. Mo was cramping up throughout and Berner allowed him to play against her in a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a full third set.
Berner’s presence had been a controversial topic since Judges coach Howie Arons spoke out about her being allowed on the Beacon boys’s team after the PSAL championship. The school does not have a girls’ team. Berner beat John in that final, but Arons switched his lineup around, moving John to first doubles and Mo, a skilled freshman, to third singles.
The coach said the move worked and Berner contended that Mo was more mentally strong than John, who broke his racket after the loss. But it didn’t matter.
“They didn’t need a girl to win the whole thing,” Berner said with a laugh.
No, but they did need Vega. Arons said it was tough to ask Raude to beat a player of Vega’s quality again. The Blue Demons are certainly happy it went their way.
“Quinton has unparalleled talent,” Franzel said. “He can go in there and hit with the pros.”
For now, he’s more than happy with beating Raude and winning the Mayor’s Cup title.
mraimondi@fiveborosports.com