St. Mary's Pagan takes Catholic tennis title
Justin Pagan of St. Mary's struggled in the second game but came back to beat St. Anthony's freshman John D'Alessandro to win the CHSAA boys tennis title, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. (May 17, 2010) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
St. Mary's junior Justin Pagan proved the adage true: Mother knows best. Even when it comes to tennis.
Last summer, at the urging of his mother, Pagan took up the sport again after two years away. Monday he won the CHSAA singles championship with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over freshman John D'Alessandro of St. Anthony's at St. Dominic.
"My mom said, 'You can't give up,' " Pagan said. "I didn't know what to expect. I'm glad I made it this far."
Pagan didn't give up Monday after dropping the second set and trailing in the third. D'Alessandro was up a break and serving at 4-3, but Pagan broke him back thanks in part to a nice backhand winner. It propelled him to win the next two games and the match.
"I was a little surprised to win," Pagan said. "But I worked hard all summer for this."
Pagan started playing tennis at the age of 5, but left the sport completely before his freshman year to focus on school. He kept in shape playing basketball with his brothers. His older brother and his father helped him get back into tennis after sophomore year.
"It was difficult," Pagan said. "It took me a while to get back."
In his first high school season, he went 6-1 as the top player for last-place St. Mary's.
"He's a great teammate," St. Mary's coach Jonathan Marron said. "He took our team defeats tough, but he never let it get him down."
Pagan's only loss in the regular season came to Chaminade's Pat Brosnan. Brosnan defeated his twin brother Chris, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, for third place. In the semis last week, Pagan defeated Chris Brosnan and D'Alessandro upset Pat Brosnan.
