BOYS TENNIS: The Hightstown High junior captured the consolation match against Lawrence’s Mark Nichols Wednesday.
By: Kyle Moylan
The expected showdown between the top two seeds took place this past Wednesday. It just wasn’t in the round everyone expected.
Hightstown High junior Chris Clayton, the top seed in the Mercer County Tournament first singles bracket, defeated Lawrence’s Mark Nichols, 6-2, 6-1. Clayton’s win over the second-seeded Nichols, however, took place in the consolation round.
"He (Nichols) was sick and I just got beat (by Princeton’s Ilia Shatashvili)," noted a very gracious Clayton.
Earlier in the semifinals on Wednesday, Shatashvili defeated Clayton, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
"He played well," Clayton noted. "I played well in the first set and then he picked up his game a lot and played better than me."
Clayton, who came into the tournament with an 8-0 record, opened action in the MCT with a pair of wins this past Monday. Clayton defeated Princeton Day School’s Jon Headley, 6-1, 6-0 in the opening round. He followed this with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Hun’s Scott Wong in the quarterfinals.
The players had a day off before resuming play on Tuesday. Clayton picked up where he left off, dominating the first set against Shatashvili.
"I’m a baseliner, but my coach (Al Lozier) is trying to get me to come into the next a lot more," Clayton noted. "I knew I had to come into the next more today (Wednesday), but it was hard. He was making good shots, keeping me back. I should have served and volleyed more.
"I was disappointed, but he outplayed me. I would like a chance to play him again, but he deserved to win this match."
Just like Clayton deserved his win over Nichols.
"I played well, but he can also play better," Clayton said. "That score (6-2, 6-1) is not indicative of what kind of player he is. He was sick today. He had a high temperature."
Clayton knows how good of player Nichols is because he says him on a regular basis at the Nassau Racquet Club. Clayton trains there under the guidance of Brad Warner.
Clayton started playing tennis at the Village Tennis Club, which has since been remodeled into a bowling alley. Most of his basic knowledge of the sport, however, came via Hopewell Bill Mountford.
With a solid background in the sport, Clayton was well ahead of most of the competition when he started playing as a freshman at Peddie. That season, Clayton placed third in the first singles bracket of the Mercer County Tournament, a finish he duplicated this past Wednesday. Clayton also won the tournament for the top prep player in the county.
Last year Clayton was victimized by one of those rules that is intended to help players and teams, but often does the opposite. To prevent players from jumping from school to school to play sports, a transfer has to wait 30 days before becoming eligible at the start of a season. This rule was never intended for a player leaving a prep school to go to the public one in his area.
"That’s what I tried to tell them," Clayton noted. "There was nothing I can do about it."
Clayton finished up at Hightstown at the end of last season and came out swinging the racket great for the start of this one. And there’s still a good chunk of the season remaining, including some state playoff action. Clayton is looking forward to that and another chance at the MCT title next year.
Expect to see Clayton as the top seed against next year. Expect to see him beating the number two seed as well. But next year, expect to see it in the MCT finals.
MCT RESULTS:
Chris Clayton was the lone Hightstown entry to make it out of the first round. In second singles action, Steinert’s Prashanth Gururaja defeated Sonny Randhawa, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. At third singles, West Windsor North’s Wayne Jenq defeated Mark Petruniak 6-0, 6-1. At first doubles, West Windsor South’s Chris Tuan and Brian Lee defeated Hightstown’s Jeff Schwartz and Vivek Balakrishna, 6-0, 6-2. At second doubles, Hopewell’s Noah Pinto and Will Fassbender defeated Bhavi Patel and Kaval Shah, 6-3, 6-0.
REGULAR SEASON
In regular season action, Hightstown was defeated by Steinert, 4-1, last Friday. Clayton had the lone win in the match for Hightstown. Clayton defeated Benny Gordon-Goldstein, 6-3, 6-1.