JS Tennis Juggernaut Continues…
Kabooooom, the JS Tennis No Mercy Squad™️ continued its unstoppable steamroll of mayhem today, in its second match of the week… and it’s only Thursday. Thank you to Harpeth Hall for hosting us vs. Ensworth, on yet another glorious afternoon.
Gaurish “Gaurate Chop!” Sahoo sliced and diced his way through a gruelling duel with the state number one who was playing for Ensworth. Yes, finding himself playing against the highest-ranked eighth-grader in Tennessee, Gaurish brought the game and grit, and faced down his opponent with unflinching ferocity. After a slippery start, going down 2-5 (in a first-to-8 match), the scoreboard was not looking good for Big G. However, like a true champion, Gaurate Chop pulled himself together and adapted to his opponent’s formidable style and gameplay. In the blink of an eye, Gaurish had somehow levelled the outing at 7-7 and the crowd was on tenterhooks: boys, parents, coaches and Harpeth Hall cheerleaders were all biting their nails, eyes agog at the breathtaking turnaround unfolding before them. Suffice it to say, by digging deeper than the Mariana Trench, Gaurish the Great went on to win by two games, closing out the match at an eye-watering 9-7.
Meanwhile, another epic comeback was about to happen on a nearby court where the trickshot duo of Walker “How’s My Hair?” Dovan and Alp “Volley Viper” Weitkamp were down 5-7 in another first-to-8 spectacle. Scary times as their opponents served for the match… But, somehow, some way, the sun was shining on the Big Red, yet again, and as that same sweltering sun began to set over the idyllic, tree-lined campus of Harpeth Hall, the resilient duo of SkyWalker and PeakAlp managed to shake off the cold sweat, put their chins up and shoulders back, and pull up their socks for one final hurrah. Lo and behold, in another blink of an eye, the match was levelled at 8-8. Holy smokes, anything could happen now. An impressive flurry of serves and lobs from Walker, finished off with venomous viper-like volleys from Alp, and the match was suddenly won for MBA on a tiebreak, 9-8 (7-3). All of us on the sidelines were impressed by the guts and determination of this daring doubles duo.
Another highlight of the day was Robert “Robohob” Hobart’s clinical 8-1 deconstruction of his unwitting opponent. In another life, Robohob would have been a keen philosopher, hobnobbing over match teas with the likes of postmodernist thinker Jacques Derrida and architect Frank Gehry as Robert is now, like them, a seasoned expert in deconstructivism.
Shaun “Don’t Make Me Angry” Xu served out a hulk of a match to win on his fourth and final thunderstrike of a matchpoint, taking the victory at 8-4. Like his good friend Peter would tell him, with great power comes great responsibility. Well done, Shaun, on fighting through the nerves and seeing out the match so solidly.
Eli “Kreme de la Kreme” Kraemer and Henry “Handy” Anderson were heroically deft with their racquets and whipped their opponents into the whippiest of whipped kreams to close out their match, 8-2.
By now, we had won all five official HVAC matches, giving us a total of 5-0. Next, Eli “Loudest Server” Loudenslager and Henry “How About Another?” Anderson performed a doubles exhibition masterclass in which they served up a 6-2 demolition derby of blurry aces and vicious volleys, cheered on by Harpethia and her friends.
Cole “Comeback Kid” Anderson and Rudi “Roundhouse Kick” Wei played a funforgettable match but forgot to actually comeback this time and rounded out their match at 3-6, which was actually quite nice of them, given the circumstances.
Jude “Birthday Dude” Bonvissuto and Armaan “Armaagettin’ Tired” Singhvi were feeling merciful, and like Emperor Commodus on his birthday, Jude the Obscurer kindly gave his opponents the thumbs up on a close line call on match point and our gents walked away from this one with a 4-6 lesson-learned loss.
Thanks again to Harpeth Hall for hosting our match on their picturesque courts, and to the generous Bonvissuto family for providing the tastiest of match teas (including home-made birthday brownies)!
Today’s final total: 6-2.
This makes our season scores, thus far, the following:
Official HVAC matches: 5-0; 5-0; 5-0; 5-0; 5-0; 5-0. CLEAN SWEEP CENTRAL - buy these boys some brooms!
Official HVAC total for MBA: 30-0, UNDEFEATED
Total score including surplus exhibition matches: 59-3
Please come to support these boys this coming Tuesday for the final day of their season - the final HVAC tournament day - at home, from 3:30pm. They definitely deserve your support.
Steamroll Red,
Coaches Farhoumand and Bromfield.
Montgomery Bell Academy
4001 Harding Road
Nashville, TN 37205
(615) 298-5514
