Garden City's Nina Wiese defeats defending state singles champion Victoria McEnroe in semifinals
Nina Wiese of Garden City plays in the semifinals of the girls tennis state championship singles tournament in Schenectady on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. Credit: Tim Roske
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — Nina Wiese’s moment has arrived.
The Garden City senior unseated defending state girls tennis singles champion Victoria McEnroe of Bronxville on Friday afternoon, and will look to take her place Saturday morning in the 9 a.m. title match at the NYSPHSAA individual championships.
Wiese was the always-sought combination of high-level skill, focus and self-confidence in handing the 2022 champion a 7-5, 6-4, defeat in the semifinals. Wiese will face No. 4 Olivia Dartawan of Niskayuna in the final.
The fourth-seeded Wiese crafted a brilliant game plan against the formidable top seed — the daughter of Patrick McEnroe and John McEnroe's niece — forcing her to sprint sideline to sideline, minimizing McEnroe's chances to use her strong forehand and consistently returning serve.
Wiese trailed 4-5 in the first set before rallying to take it. She quickly regrouped in the second set when her 5-2 lead was trimmed to 5-4.
Asked what was most essential to winning, the Nassau singles champ replied, “I never stopped believing I could do it.”
“I told myself this was my chance,” Wiese added. “These opportunities don’t come by much.”
In morning singles quarterfinals, Wiese had a straight-sets win to advance, but Kailin Gochna of North Shore and Angel Walia of Herricks suffered straight-set losses. Walia battled McEnroe tough but fell 7-5, 6-1.
On Saturday at 9 a.m. Walia will be in the fifth-place match and Gochna will be in the seventh-place match.
Stabile and Buchen reach final
The Westhampton tandem of senior Julia Stabile and junior Matilda Buchen will be playing for the state doubles crown at 11 a.m. on Saturday after coming on late in both sets of their semifinal against sisters Andrea and Lina Vases of Manhasset for a 7-5, 7-6 (4) win.
Stabile and Buchen, the Suffolk doubles champions and No. 2 seed, won four straight games to close out the first set and overcame a 2-5 start to capture the second. They will meet top-seeded Emma Ha and Kay Cottrell of Scarsdale, who won a quarterfinal over Bayport-Blue Point sisters Emilia and Evie Romano, 6-4, 6-1, and survived a three-set match against No. 4-seeded Kayla Castellano and Angelina Bravo of Garden City, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Asked about coming back in both sets, Buchen said, “You get on a roll and you’re more confident, take more chances and don’t choke.”
“When we got down, I could count on Matilda to make winning shots,” Stabile said. “That we have won four matches in a row at the state tournament is unfathomable.”
In the doubles quarterfinals, Stabile and Buchen and Castellano and Bravo both had straight-set victories and the Vases sisters had a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 triumph over No. 3 Nishka Daga and Brinda Roy of Edgemont.
The Vases sisters will face Castellano and Bravo in the third-place match on Saturday at 11 a.m., in what is a rematch of the Nassau doubles title final. The Romano sisters play in the seventh-place contest.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
