Wayne Zweigbaum had a good reason to pair Alexis Tashiro and Paulina Velasquez together for the Mayor’s Cup. His No. 1 and No. 2 singles had never played together in competiton, but knowing the two of them, the Francis Lewis coach didn’t feel that was going to be a problem.
“They are very good friends,” Zweigbaum said. “They have known each other for a long time. You knew the chemistry was going to be good. They were the top seed for a good reason.”
Both Tashiro and Velasquez admitted there were still some things that needed to be ironed out in the first two matches, like how each other moved on their own and how to move together on the court. All of that was worked out by the final where they beat the second-seeded team of Katie Derienzo and Marylen Santos from St. Francis Prep, 6-4, 7-6, to claim the Mayor’s Cup girls doubles crown Sunday afternoon at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing.
“It’s rare, we never really played doubles together,” Velasquez, a sophomore, said. “We didn’t know how we would play together. We just decided to try it. At first, we were kind of struggling, but as the matches went on we got to know each other a little better.”
The title is the first by a Patriots team since 2002. That year, Francis Lewis’ top two singles players got together and knocked off a pair from St. Francis Prep, winners of 12 straight Mayor’s Cup team titles. Zweigbaum said the two jelling together and winning against top competition a challenge for his two players.
“It’s great,” said Tashiro, a junior. “You are not only winning for yourself, but you are winning for your school so it’s even sweeter.”
She and Velasquez, whose sister Manuela won the singles crown previously, nearly let the Terrier duo back into the match. They held a 5-2 lead in the second set only to watch Derienzo and Santos rally to take a 6-5 lead. Tashiro said at that point they just tried to forget the lead they lost and focus on the next game and the next point to eventually pull out the win in a tiebreaker.
“I just tried to focus in on what we had to do in that game,” Tashiro said. “It just really worked out. We played a couple of good points in that game and went into the tiebreaker really confident.”
The feeling of winning has left both wanting to compete in the Mayor’s Cup next season in some form.
“It definitely makes me [want to] play it again and represent my school,” Velasquez said.
Waldron takes boys singles crown: Beacon’s Christian Waldron topped St. Francis Prep’s David Arroyave for the Mayor’s Cup boys singles title. The Terriers bounced back in doubles with Chris Jimenez and Kilby Featherston taking home the championship.