Morris overcomes Levine for Nassau tennis title
Garden City High School junior Zach Morris returns a volley. (April 30, 2010) Credit: James A. Escher
The best thing about yesterday's epic, back-and-forth, three-set, 21/2-hour Nassau County singles final between Garden City's Zach Morris and Cold Spring Harbor's Josh Levine? There could be a repeat next year.
Morris, a junior, came from behind in the final set and defeated Levine, a sophomore, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, at Oceanside High School. It's the first title for Morris, who took third as a freshman and second as a sophomore.
"I'm floating right now," Morris said. "To be the one seed and actually win it, it's awesome."
After Morris took his first lead of the final set at 5-4, Levine called an injury timeout for cramps in both quadriceps. Still feeling the effects of those cramps, Levine won the next game with four straight points, punctuating it with an ace. The pain became too much and Morris easily won the final two games.
"I tried to fight through it," Levine said. "It was a little too late in the match."
Levine said his hands started cramping up in the middle of the set and it spread through his body. He said he needed to hydrate more and expected to be fine for today's team semifinal against Hewlett.
Morris said Levine's backhand was successful early, so he made his comeback by attacking Levine's forehand. He said he wished the end had been different.
"I'm not gonna lie, it's a little disappointing," Morris said. "I wanted to see who had the guts to pull it out. It was such a great match."
The two could meet at the state championships, which begin June 3 at the National Tennis Center in Flushing. Also advancing is CSH junior Eric Ambrosio, who defeated Jericho's Sam Lam, 6-2, 6-4, in the consolation. All four finalists in singles and doubles earn All-State status.
Long Beach sophomores Matt Barry and Eric Rubin defeated Friends Academy's Jon DeFrancesh and Andrew Yaraghi, 6-3, 7-5, to take the doubles title.
Barry and Rubin teamed before the season with their eyes on a title.
"We thought we could team up and win it all," Rubin said. "We definitely made the right decision."
DeFrancesh and Yaraghi finished third at the state tournament last season.
Said DeFrancesh: "We wanted to win but we're happy just to get another shot at the state tournament."
Joining both teams at the state tournament will be Farmingdale's Ignacio Casali and Brendan Henry, who defeated Cold Spring Harbor's Jensen Reiter and Alex Tropiano, 7-6 (6), 6-1.
