Patkar defeats defending GMCT champion
By: Rich Fisher
South Brunswick High’s tennis team finally got the clutch win it was looking for.
And it led to an even bigger win in the overall scheme of things.
After suffering two of its first three losses on final matches of what would be 3-2 decisions, the Vikes finally pulled out that elusive third victory for a 3-2 win.
With everyone else watching, the first doubles team of Shuang Wang and Brian Binder eked out a three-set victory over previously North Brunswick last week to give the Vikings a rousing, 3-2 win. The previously unbeaten Raiders, who were 9-0 at the time of the loss, are the top team in the Greater Middlesex Conference’s White Division. So this one goes down as a quality win.
Equally impressive, is that first singles player Rohan Patkar knocked off Gaurav Singh, the defending GMC Tournament champion, 6-4, 6-3. By virtue of that win, Patkar earned the number one seed for this weekend’s GMC Tournament, which begins today (Thursday) at Middlesex County College and runs through Saturday.
"We finally, finally got that third win in a 3-2 match," coach Nancy McDonald said. "Our first doubles came through. They won 7-5 in the third set, and that’s about as much pressure as it gets.
"North Brunswick had beaten (Red Division frontrunners) East Brunswick and J.P. Stevens, so for us to go in and give them their first loss was just lovely. We knew they were strong, they had beaten teams we had lost to, so our expectations weren’t that we were gonna walk out of their beating them. We knew we’d have a close match with them. That was a great team booster, since we lost so many 3-2 matches."
It was also a big boost for Patkar, who suddenly takes on the mantel as the Player to Beat in the GMCT.
"Ro always has that mindset of ‘I think I can beat him, but how am I really going to do?’" McDonald said. "I think he always had confidence this year because his game is so improved. But saying it and doing it is always a different thing. He did it this time."
Patkar carries an 11-0 record into the GMCT. Second singles players Arjun Sapra is 8-4 and seeded fourth, third singles Mike Finkelburg is 9-2 and seeded third, Yang-Binder are 7-4 and seeded third, and second doubles Najeeb Hussain-Guha Balakrishnan are 3-3 and seeded second.
"The seedings went fine, we had no problems," McDonald said. "It was pretty cut and dry with the records and head-to-head competition. The fact we didn’t get any rainouts meant everyone played each other so we were able to determine head-to-head pretty easily."
As for her team’s chances, McDonald said "Right now we’re third in the division to East Brunswick and J.P. Stevens. Both our losses to them have been close, so there’s a nice little triangle going on. This weekend will be interesting."
BACHANDERS: In Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Edison, the senior tandem of Akshay Gupta-Seth Robey were given a chance to play and won in straight sets . . . Today’s opening round will go all day. The semifinals are Friday after school and the finals are Saturday morning at "either 9 or 10" according to McDonald.

