Doubles delivers for PHS boys
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Zach Hojeibane and Zack Kleiman thought they’d be playing doubles together this year, but instead each headed up a doubles team in the Princeton High School boys tennis lineup.
Call it fate or destiny, but a last-minute injury to regular third-singles Adib Zaidi on Tuesday morning, brought the Little Tigers seniors back together hours before the start of the Mercer County Tournament.
”For these matches,” Hojeibane said, “it was about playing with each other’s strengths and working with our weaknesses and picking apart our opponents’.”
Hojeibane and Kleiman were challenged more with each successive round. They had to play in the preliminary round where they cruised by Allentown. In the first round, the unseeded Little Tigers duo took down third-seeded Josiah Meekins and DJ Modzelewski of Princeton Day School, 6-4, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, they beat another strong team, Hopewell Valley’s Russell Nicholson and Roger Toussaint, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, to move into the scheduled semifinals with the finals and consolations that were to return to Mercer County Park on Thursday.
”It was nuts,” Kleiman said. “It was really great. Hopewell, they’re always a great opponent. They always play good doubles. They’re good at net and very aggressive. Zach and I are more traditional with one up and one back. Hopewell takes the initiative and tries to move forward.
”I felt we were on the defensive in the beginning. As we adjusted and got used to their style, we pushed back well. I think there was give and take throughout the entire match. I think we adjusted well in the end to their style. We figured the way to go through it was to be as consistent as possible.”
The new first doubles tandem was only one of the PHS flights changed in the last second, and up and down the lineup, the Little Tigers seemed to respond to the adversity.
”I think they liked the challenge,” said PHS head coach Christian Herzog. “They’d rather be the underdog. They’d prefer to have to show up and fight for things and prove themselves. That’s something we talked about before the first match started, go out and fight for every point and prove yourself.”
Hojeibane’s usual partner at first doubles, Lucas Mitchell, moved up to third singles for Zaidi, whom he had been edged by in a challenge match. Mitchell was proof enough of the depth at PHS this year. He won his preliminary match, then topped Aidan Machado of Steinert, 6-1, 6-0, and upended fourth-seeded Sanandh Ravu of West Windsor-Plainsboro North in the quarterfinals.
”Lucas is an excellent singles player,” Kleiman said. “He stepped up to that position. And Zack and I have had some experience together. Andrew Lin and Andrew Wei had hit a lot together and are friends.”
Kleiman’s usual second doubles partner, Wei, joined forces with Lin to play second doubles in the MCT. They had the third seed in the tournament and made quick work of Nottingham’s Kajan Boyer and Dave Zuninga, 6-0, 6-0, before handling Ewing in the quarterfinals in straight sets.
”It was our worst nightmare and they made the most of it,” Herzog said. “It was everyone. Even at second doubles, Andrew Lin didn’t make the team last year. When he was the last guy cut, he went out and worked hard and came back stronger.”
The three flights were the only ones left for PHS after the first day of the tournament that saw defending champion West Windsor-Plainsboro South advance all five flights to the semifinals, while PDS advanced its top three flights to tie PHS for second place overall. PHS nearly advanced second singles Tyler Hack, who lost a long three-set tiebreaker to WW-P North’s Vasishta Kalinadhabhotla in the quarterfinals.
”I had confidence in our team from the start,” Hojeibane said. “I was really happy with our team’s performance today. I knew they’d come in fiery and hot. I knew second doubles and Lucas would do well and even Tyler at second. I have faith in them that they can raise it up and compete.”
Hojeibane and Kleiman had only played one match together before the MCT, but they both had big-match experience. Hojeibane played first doubles last year, and Kleiman and Hack had won the second doubles flight at last year’s MCT.
”I was remembering all that happened last year,” Kleiman said. “As a senior, we’re both co-captains of varsity. We have an obligation to put the best foot forward and do the best we can. Even when we’re off the court, we cheer on everyone else. We’re really happy to be tied for second. We feel like we’ve put our best foot forward and tried our best as seniors.”
The two worked well together in the MCT to earn three points for the Little Tigers. They didn’t need long to adjust to each other.
”I’ve known him since freshman year,” Hojeibane said. “We went all through preseason playing together. We tried our challenge matches together. We were going to be doubles partners. Something late happened and it got a little switched up.
”Zack, he’s a very focused player. He has a lot of smarts. He uses court smarts. He has, No. 1, court smarts; and he’s, No. 2, a good team player. He’s very supportive and gives you good advice. He does use his brains during points. He doesn’t hit balls around willy-nilly. He’s thinking how should I hit this next ball? He’s thinking about setting up the next point. It makes him a good player for doubles.”
They got better together as the MCT went on. Their veteran play helped to steady the middle of the PHS lineup.
”I think our styles are kind of similar,” Kleiman said. “In both of our matches, we used our serve to move forward. We both have nice angles on our serves. We try to use serves as a weapon and to get into the points. We used the cross-court as much as we could. At the net, he’s a huge presence. He’s given me some tips. He has good hands up at net.”
The last-second switch gave them the chance to see what could have been if they had stayed paired up.
”I think if we had been together, we definitely would have done well,” Kleiman said. “The pairing is a nice combination. Zach is a great doubles player. He’s really solid at net and the baseline. He has a big first serve. We did a good job of keeping the morale up and did a good job of pumping each other up. I think we played well off each other and hope to continue that on Thursday.”
Hojeibane had plenty of motivation Tuesday. He came into the tournament unhappy that he and Mitchell hadn’t earned one of the top four seeds. A change of partners didn’t let his goals of proving that PHS had a top-four team at first doubles change, and a less experienced player may not have handled the last-second switch so gracefully.
”The biggest thing I learned from last year was how to work with a partner,” Hojeibane said. “I’ve never on a varsity setting had another player that I had to commit with and relate with on a daily basis. It was good to get that relationship in and learn how to build each other up and figure that out. The tennis itself wasn’t what changed, it was more getting used to the relation with my partner and learning how to work with him to ultimately come out with successful result.”
Success could result in a medal for the seniors in their final MCT, but ultimately, both Hojeibane and Kleiman are focused on what their success means to the team’s chances. And by coming together seamlessly and pulling out PHS’ toughest win of the first day, they did their job to show the Little Tigers strength as a team.
”They had some tough matches,” Herzog said. “They definitely were the underdog in terms of seeding and expectations. I think they fed off that to give them a little more grit in their game. They felt like they had to prove themselves. At this point, it gives them more confidence going into the second half of the season.”