Hills West's Gelman takes Suffolk tennis title

Sitting in a folding chair, turkey sandwich and BlackBerry in hand, Half Hollow Hills West's Nolan Gelman looked more like a tailgater than a county finalist waiting for his opponent.

Gelman, even clapping at times, took a seat amidst the crowd to watch his eventual opponent Richard Sipala battle out a marathon third-set tiebreaker in his semifinal match.

Two hours passed before the top-seeded Gelman returned to the court and transformed from spectator to county champion.

Gelman hit a backhand drop volley to complete a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ross' Sipala and win the Suffolk County singles championship at Smithtown East Monday.

Gelman's quick lateral movement and immense reach on his forehands and overheads (he's 6-3), combined with his fresh legs, were the answer for every cross-court shot or lob that Sipala tried to get by him.

"I was going to try to run him around because he had a tough match in the semifinals, so I knew he was tired," said Gelman, who beat Zain Ali of Half Hollow Hills East, 6-4, 6-1, in a quick semifinal. "Not only did I get to rest but I got to watch their third set to see their strengths and weaknesses."

The win completed a four-year plan for Gelman, a self-proclaimed "doubles specialist" whose intention all along was to switch to singles for his senior year after three seasons of doubles, in which he was a state qualifier.

Said Gelman: "This was my goal the whole time . . . If I stay focused, I really can't be beat."

Ali, an eighth-grader, took advantage of an understandably fatigued Jeremy Dubin of Southampton - Sipala's semifinal opponent - by moving him side to side with a strong forehand en route to a 6-0, 6-1 win in the consolation match. Ali, along with Gelman and Sipala, advance to the state championships at the National Tennis Center in Flushing on June 3.

Ali's game plan against his drained opponent mirrored that of Gelman's. "I wanted to move him around and make him run so he'd be tired because he played such a long match," he said.

Also joining Ali in Flushing this June will be Hills East teammates Chris Hunter, a junior, and sophomore Eric Bertuglia, who won the doubles title after Bertuglia hit an overhead smash on match point to defeat Nick Bauer and Kevin Serina of East Islip, 6-2, 6-2.

"We felt we could be a dominant force," Bertuglia said of joining forces with Hunter this season. "We just stayed focused and attacked when we had the shot."

Added Hunter: "We feel we are a strong team and could go deep into states."

Spencer Kuzan and seventh-grader Trippie Tuff of Ross also advanced to states after a 6-4, 6-2 upset over Westhampton's Greg Kendell and Christian Thienel in the consolation.