Ross' Smergut takes Suffolk tennis championship

Nadia Smergut emitted a guttural grunt when she smacked the ball with her whiplash-inducing backhand at yesterday's Suffolk individual tennis championships; Samantha Elgort kept relatively quiet when she made precise contact, preferring to bare her teeth in an expression that was a bit of a sneer, a bit of a catlike grin.

The difference couldn't be starker. Smergut is tall and dark, Elgort is petite and fair; before the match, Smergut took off a pair of large, gold, star-shaped earrings that bring to mind Serena Williams, circa 2005; Elgort wore her hair pushed back, in a no-nonsense braid.

Score one for playful accessorizing.

In a mesmerizing display of power versus precision, Smergut, a 10th-grader from the Ross School, defeated Elgort, the senior lefty from Hills East, 6-4, 7-6 (2), to take the county title at Smithtown East. It was a rematch of last year's semifinal, which Elgort won.

"It feels different from last time," said Smergut, who is understated despite her style of play. "Last time, I had a total meltdown. I was up 5-3 and I lost. That was a big upset for me. It feels good to be in the finals and beat her."

Elgort, last year's county champ, praised Smergut for coming into her own. "She got so much stronger, so much more consistent," Elgort said. "She's making a lot fewer mistakes. Everything is more precise.''

Elgort and Smergut advanced to November's state championship in Manlius, N.Y.

Smergut was down 5-3 in the first set, but rallied to win - thanks in part to a last-ditch, over-the-shoulder hit that helped her inch to 5-4. When Elgort came from a 5-4 deficit in the second set, Smergut said she feared giving way to the old voices that cost her the victory last year.

"I used to just tank matches if I was going crazy," Smergut said. "I mean, I did , but I kept it to a minimum, where I didn't let myself get too down on myself and lose."

For that alone, she gets a gold star.

Finger, Hann and Vamvakitis win. Smithtown East's Sara Finger defeated East Islip's Karen Serina, an eighth-grader, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, in the consolation to qualify for the state tournament. Finger, a sophomore who missed a year of tennis after injuring her back, said she had to "pinch herself" at the thought of competing upstate.

"It was extremely close," she said. "[Serina] fought and fought, but I just hung in there.

"This is amazing. I've missed it so much.''

In doubles, Westhampton's Jamie Hann and Diana Vamvakitis beat Northport sisters Bridget and Mickey Harding, 6-1, 6-2, on Monday.

"It was a very good match," Northport coach Peter Quinn said. "I'll be surprised if Westhampton doesn't win states."