Martlets Fall to Rhinos

On another beautiful day on Williams Hill, the martlets hosted the Rhinos from Taft in a competitive afternoon of tennis. Starting with the doubles matches, William Jones ‘28 and Calvin Bixby ‘28 continued their strong run of form at #2 doubles, with an efficient 8-1 win. Issac Kwon ‘28 and Khang Ngo ‘27 played some good points but fell to a more consistent team 8-4 at #3 doubles. Crosby Cutler ‘27 and Xavier Kahn ‘27 matched up against a tough team at #1 doubles, but played some solid tennis during a 8-2 loss at #1 doubles. Finally, to wrap up the first round, Caden Cramer ‘27 and Tyson Mertz ‘27 won their match in a breaker at #4 doubles. After a tight doubles point won by Taft, the Martlets went out with all to play for still in the singles matches. After dropping the first set 1-6, Crosby Cutler ‘’27 had chances and exchanged breaks several times in his second set before falling 6-1; 6-4 at #2 singles. Sonny Darnowski ‘28 had a similar experience at #3 singles. After dropping the first, he let a 3-0 lead in the second slip before forcing and falling in a breaker, 6-1;7-6(4). At #6 singles Connor Gray ‘26 played a consistent opponent and he took the first set 7-5. After losing the second set 2-6, Connor dug in and played a steady and consistent breaker that he won 10-7 to put the Martlets on the board. Daniel Frid ‘27 played a great match at #1 singles and him and his opponent had some great rallies. His opponent was a little too consistent and aggressive, running Frid from side to side. Frid battled hard but lost in a very competitive 7-5;6-3 decision to seal the match for the Rhinos. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Niu ‘26 won his match at #4 singles with a well played match 6-4;6-3. Between big serves, putting the ball away and some long rallies, Niu played smart and aggressive in his win. Finally, Jaime Escartin ‘27 played a great match filled with long rallies at #5 singles. After dropping the first set 4-6, he got an early break in the second set which he successfully served out 6-4. The breaker started close before Jaime got ahead, and stayed ahead to close out the 10-7 victory. The 4-3 match was a disappointing result despite the improvement in the play by the Martlets. They have a week to practice before taking the courts again next Wednesday when we travel to Deerfield.