FPD boys, Stratford girls tennis pick up first-round wins
It was a good day for a couple of Macon high school tennis teams Monday, with the FPD boys and Stratford girls picking up first-round victories in the GHSA Class A Private School Playoffs.
FPD needed less than 90 minutes to claim a 3-0 win over King’s Ridge Christian. The Vikings dropped just three games in the matches that went the distance.
The Stratford girls, meanwhile, battled through a couple of tightly contested matches to defeat Mount Paran Christian 3-1.
Both FPD’s boys and Stratford’s girls advance to quarterfinal play, which will take place later this week.
Five who mattered
Eliza Freedman, Stratford: The Eagles’ No. 1 singles player brought a patient game to the court against hard-hitting Abby Gardner. Content to patrol the baseline, Freedman battled through an hour-long first set before taking control in the second set and prevailing 6-3, 6-1.
Emily Claire Fussell and Grace Adams, Stratford: The No. 2 doubles team was taken to the limit in the second set by Mount Paran’s Lizzie Norton and Kate Winans. The final game of the second set went to deuce several times, but Fussell and Adams fought their way to a 6-1, 7-5 victory.
Halen Fulk and Marshall Danner, FPD: The Vikings have put in a lot of practice work on the doubles side in the past week, and the work paid off with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Justin Gerding and Cullen Teas.
Turning point
While FPD was in total control of its first-round match, Stratford’s match was more in doubt. Freedman and Gardner played through a close first set, with Gardner leading early. Mount Paran’s No. 3 player, Suzy Buehler, rallied to win her first set on the court next to Freedman and Gardner, so it appeared for a time that the No. 1 singles match would be the decisive one. But Freedman took control of her match, defeating Gardner before the third singles match could finish.
Observations
Quickly on, quickly off: FPD’s No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, Michael and Miller Durham, are both off to Division I college careers this fall. They didn’t need much time on the court Monday against King’s Ridge, with Michael Durham blanking Adam Volz 6-0, 6-0 in first singles and Miller Durham beating Logan Whitley 6-0, 6-1 in second singles.
Doubling up in doubles: Stratford’s first win against Mount Paran came in first doubles, with Elizabeth Copelan and Lora Kate Diponzio topping Abby Baird and Claire Meyer 6-0, 6-2.
Also Monday
The FPD girls tennis team saw its season conclude Monday with a 4-0 loss at St. Francis.
They said it
Freedman on her style of play: “I tried to keep the ball going, keep it in play, made sure not to make any errors. I tried to do that and let her break down first.”
Stratford head coach Jaime Kaplan on Freedman’s victory: “Eliza is one of the most patient players you’ll see. We knew going into this match that she would match up well with her opponent in that respect, in that she would just run everything down and hit a lot of high, deep balls, and that plan worked.”
Kaplan on the Fussell-Adams win at No. 2 doubles: “That game could have gone either way. That was huge. It just kept going deuce-ad, deuce-ad, ad for us, ad for them. Grace Adams has really worked on her serve, and she put in some big serves in that game.”
What’s next?
Quarterfinal matches are to be completed by Saturday, with schools setting match dates and times. The FPD boys play the Providence-Atlanta International winner, while the Stratford girls will play the Prince Avenue Christian-Atlanta International winner.
This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 7:51 PM with the headline "FPD boys, Stratford girls tennis pick up first-round wins."