Levine tops familiar foe for state title
Cold Spring Harbor's Josh Levine comes to the net during his semifinal match at the state championships. (June 4, 2011) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Josh Levine was not supposed to win the state tennis championship.
The Cold Spring Harbor junior, like everyone else in the tournament, had to face the specter of New Rochelle senior Jeremy Court, the top seed and defending champion.
Levine, the No. 2 seed, lost to Court in a 2010 semifinal, 7-6 (4), 6-2. While Court remained the favorite to repeat, Levine's stellar regular season indicated that the gap between the two had narrowed.
Undefeated in conference play at first singles, he stormed through the Nassau playoffs, winning the county championship denied to him by Garden City's Zach Morris in 2010.
He began his state title run at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows by losing a total of eight games in his first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinal, he defeated Suffolk runner-up Jeremy Dubin, 6-2, 6-3. In the semifinal, he upended Christian Brothers Academy's Matt Nardella, 6-4, 6-4, setting up the long-awaited rematch with Court.
A composed Levine exuded confidence before the final, saying he would play his game and see what happened. He won the first set, taking advantage of an uncharacteristically sloppy Court.
"I feel like the reason he was making so many errors was that I was pressing and forcing him to make errors by attacking and stepping in," Levine said.
But in the second set, even as Court's unforced errors lessened, Levine dominated. His first serves were on the mark, and his passing shots often left Court dumbfounded as he completed a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
"I know his game, and he knows mine," Levine said. "What I tried to do was attack, and I executed it almost perfectly."
Almost perfect was more than enough to cap Levine's perfect season -- 27-0 in singles matches. He led the Seahawks to their fourth straight Long Island title.
The only question left to be asked: What can he do for an encore?
