Rancho sophomore rallies to claim title

For what is believed to be the first time in school history, Rancho has produced a Sunrise Region tennis champion.

Rohan Gupte, a sophomore, defeated Coronado senior Matt Dees 7-5, 6-4 to capture the Sunrise boys singles title Friday at Darling Tennis Center.

"No one from my school has ever won or come close to this," Gupte said. "I feel happy to show that Rancho's finally on top for once."

Gupte came from behind in both sets. He rallied from a 5-4 deficit in the first set, when he broke the left-handed Dees' serve for the first time to take a 6-5 lead.

"It was a pretty tough first set. He was serving pretty good the whole time," Gupte said. "I had to stay aggressive on the return the whole time, which I wasn't doing in the beginning. But I figured it out eventually, got the break and won the set."

Down 4-3 in the second set, Gupte again recovered to win the last three games.

"I got my second wind," he said. "I started coming to the net more because it seemed to be working."

Gupte, who placed third in the region last year and advanced to state, is undefeated this season and lost only three games in his first four matches in the Sunrise tournament.

"I just improved my game, worked harder and it paid off in the end," he said.

Gupte's gritty effort impressed Rancho boys tennis coach Kevin Lord.

"He really toughed it out," he said. "I was kind of worried there for a little bit, but he managed to stay focused and bring it back in."

Gupte and Dees advanced to next week's Class 4A state tournament.

In the Sunrise girls singles final, Coronado's Paris Reese outlasted Silverado's Jordan Minnick 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2 to claim the crown.

In the boys doubles final, Liberty's Gil Lim and Blayze O'Keefe cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Coronado's Kai Carl and Bryden Baxter.

In the girls doubles final, Liberty's Ashley Wao-Udin and Aphrah Brokaw beat Coronado's Sarah Pate and Allie Sanford, 6-1, 6-0.

Brokaw teamed with Liberty graduate Danae Ingwaldson to win last year's state doubles title.

Coronado players swept the third-place matches as Andy Durand won in boys singles, Patrick Crockett and Sebastian Sandqvist in boys doubles, Nicole Gardner in girls singles and Marina Arriola and Kayla Tarlton in girls doubles.

SUNSET REGION

Last year, Kris Yee became the first boys tennis player from Clark since 1986 to win a state singles title.

After winning his second straight Sunset Region crown Friday at Darling Tennis Center, the senior appears poised to repeat that feat this year.

Yee, ranked among the nation's top 18-year-old players, beat Cimarron-Memorial's Brian Foley 6-4, 6-0 in the Sunset final. Both players advance to next week's state tournament.

"The first set I was struggling a little bit," Yee said. "The second set I was starting to hit balls a little bit better, keeping the ball deep and keeping him off the offense a little bit more."

A dedicated player, Yee is home-schooled and attends a tennis academy at Lorenzi Park, where he trains from 8 a.m. to noon on weekdays and engages in match play on weekends.

"Tennis is kind of my whole life," he said.

Foley, a senior who attends the Darling tennis academy, suffered his first loss this season.

In a rematch of last year's Sunset girls singles final, Spring Valley's Tiffany Tavares repeated as champion with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Palo Verde's Victoire Saperstein.

In the boys doubles final, Palo Verde's Tanner Berkabile and Ozzy Abraham beat Centennial's Brandon Fish and Casey Moses, 6-2, 6-1.

Berkabile and Abraham lost in last year's Sunset final but rebounded to win the state title.

In the girls doubles final, The Meadows' Taler Brazell and Amanda Brazell rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Palo Verde's Megan Randazzo and Sarah Sanders to claim their second straight Sunset crown.

The Brazells took second at state last year.

Third-place finishers were Centennial's Travis Beck; Bishop Gorman's Chelsea Crovetti; Clark's Joseph Maalouf and Deric Pang; and Gorman's Taylor Larreau and Morgan Matley.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.