Sports
Fort Lee Tennis Team's Winning Streak Snapped
An undefeated Bridgemen team fell to the Tenafly Tigers on Friday afternoon. It was the team's first loss of the season.
The Fort Lee Bridgemen tennis team saw their undefeated record come to an end after a 4-1 loss at Tenafly Friday.
Tenafly’s Ben Berkenfield defeated Fort Lee’s Jason Halpern and ruined his undefeated record in two sets, 6-0, 6-1 in a singles match. On the next court over, Tenafly’s Uri Hochfeld beat Peter Chin also in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. And Ethan Goldman picked up the third win for the Tigers with a yet another straight set victory over Henry Huang, 6-0, 6-3.
Over on the doubles courts, Fort lee’s Nicholas Wong and Max Leblanc didn't fare much better, lossing by a score of 6-2, 6-1 against Tenafly's Will Torsiglieri and Nate Harris.
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The only good news Friday for the Bridgemen may have been that of the duo of juniors Andrew Lee and Yuki Takahashi, who proved that they are a dominant doubles team. They took out Tenafly’s Dan Lee and Dave Cho in a thrilling two-set win, 6-4, 7-5. The fact that the two are underclassmen is music to the ears of Fort Lee head coach Phillip Zappel.
“We’re excited about that," Zappel said. "They are really going to help us next year. Because even though they probably won’t be playing together next year, there is a good chance they will be playing singles, and it’s nice to know that we are still going to have some strength next year on the team.”
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Andrew Lee is also excited about the possibilities and the chemistry that he has developed with his partner in crime.
“I feel great right now, and I believe our teamwork and our skills just keep on leveling up and our development from the beginning of the season toward the end of the season,” said Lee.
Takahashi echoed Lee’s sentiments, saying "both of us have been practicing a lot."
“So we really want to keep winning," he said. "It’s great that we are still juniors and have another year to go to keep on improving.”
The loss was tough to take, but Coach Zappel is confident the team will bounce back in time for the upcoming county and state tournaments.
“I think this is a good experience for us going into counties and states in the next couple of weeks," Zappel said. "It’s good to have a strong match and play a very strong team going into counties and states, because you have to up your game once you get there.”
The Bridgemen will look to bounce back on Monday at home in a 4 p.m. match against Cliffside Park.
