By Michael Lewis
Anticipation is such a major part of tennis.
Waiting for the ball to arrive takes a few seconds, and between every point there are 20-30 seconds to think about what you just did, and what might happen next.
At 9:29 a.m. Wednesday morning, Angel Walia had a lot on her mind. The Herricks High School senior found herself with a second match point at the New York State girls tennis individual championships at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
For nearly two hours, Walia battled Olivia Dartawan of Niskayuna High School (near Albany), the runner-up last year.
Ten minutes earlier Walia had a match point and let it slip away. Now, she had just rallied from 1-4 down in the second set tiebreak to win the next five points and had a second opportunity to be the first Herricks state girls champ in 43 years.
Walia paced behind Court 5, waiting for the serve to come.
“I was just picturing myself as state champ,” Walia said. “I was imagining myself holding the trophy.”
And after a 20-shot rally, that picture became a reality. A Dartawan short forehand smacked the net tape, and Walia screamed out “Come on!”
For the first time since Liz Jaffee in 1981, Herricks had a state champ.
Walia’s steady groundstrokes and tenacious defense earned her the 6-2, 7-6 win.
After six years as a varsity player, Walia capped her career in the best way possible.
“No matter how much my legs were burning, I was bending as low as I could and putting everything into each shot,” a beaming Walia said moments after the win. “Coach Joy Solomon) kept telling me on the changeovers that this was my trophy, don’t let this go, don’t let this go. And I knew I had to get it.”
Walia’s triumph gave Nassau County a split decision when it came to state finals on Wednesday; the Great Neck South duo of junior Madison Lee and seventh-grader Gabrielle Villegas were beaten by Horace Greeley’s Allison Tsai and Michelle Rosenblit, 6-1, 6-1.
Played at the indoor courts at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, at the very un-final like time at 7:30 a.m., the two matches involving Nassau players were on side-by-side courts, but the results for the locals quickly started to diverge.
For Walia, who had won four matches over the past two days to reach the final, the first set couldn’t have gone better. At 2-all, the righthander ran off four straight games to snag the opening set, and the memories of finishing in third at the county tournament 10 days ago were fading quickly.
But the second set had more twists and turns than the Cyclone roller coaster, just a borough away.
After leaving the court for a bathroom break, Dartawan played much better in the second set. Down 0-2, she cut down on her errors and attacked the net more and won the next three games, using her backhand down the line to great success.
But the 5-foot-3 Walia showed her toughness and battled back for a 4-3 lead.
“She keeps her cool, she refocuses, and gets back to her game,” Solomon said. “I told her she was playing beautifully and that she’s got this. I told her it’s in front of her, and she controls her destiny.”
Leading 5-3 and one game away from the championship, Walia slipped a bit as Dartawan ran off the next three games.
But Walia steadied and broke serve, forcing the tiebreak. There Walia fell behind 4-1, before winning the last six points of the match.
Now, a seafood dinner awaited, and her costume as a leopard for Halloween was waiting for Walia at home (and college tennis next year as well, she’s just not sure where yet.)
“It’s just the best cap to my career; I’ve been trying to be state champ for six years,” Walia said.
In the doubles match, 12-year-old Villegas and her 17-year-old partner, Lee, were not quite as in sync as they had been in the first two days of the state tournament.
The pair, going for the school’s first state title in girls doubles since 1982 (Ingrid Bulla and Tara Uttern won it then), had won four matches over the previous 48 hours, dropping only one set in the process, but ran into a very strong team from Horace Greeley School, in Chappaqua.
The Greeley duo of Tsai and Rosenblit attacked the net at every opportunity, putting pressure on Lee and Villegas to make passing shots or lobs.
The Greeley team was also pinpoint in its volleys and could not be passed often, and grabbed the first set in 30 minutes.
The second set was unfortunately more of the same, even as the Great Neck South duo tried to inspire each other with shouts after each point won.
Lee and Villegas fell behind 3-0 in the second set and found the hill too big to climb back, and the Greeley team grabbed a state championship.
“They were both really solid at the net, and we came out making too many mistakes, especially on the return games,” Lee said. “Because we were missing so much, we weren’t able to really try to change our tactics and strategy.
“I feel like if we made a few more shots, it wouldn’t have been as hard,” Villegas said.
Both Lee and Villegas said butterflies weren’t the problem Wednesday.
“It’s more nerve-wracking when you play your first match at a tournament; once you get to the finals it feels a little like icing on the cake,” Lee said.
Still, it was a sensational tournament for the Rebels duo, and both will have a shot at a state title again next season, if they continue to play high school tennis. (Villegas is ranked No. 2 in the USTA 12 and Under Eastern rankings, and No. 16 nationally.)
“It’s OK, we’ll try next time,” Lee said.
