Junior Leo Eisner with the league champion bracket.

In his first three-set match all season, junior becomes league champion

(Photo used by permission of Eisner)
Junior Leo Eisner with the league champion bracket.

Location: Highlands High School

Date: April 25

Final scores: In the league doubles championship, freshmen Ashwin Rohatgi and Ming Zhu lost (6-10) and will not advance. Junior Leo Eisner won the finals of the league singles championship (2-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Inside info per Eisner: “I played pretty poorly at the start, as proven by my loss of the first set. I had already played my opponent once during the regular season and beaten him 6-4, 6-4.

“After losing the first set, I knew that a change had to be made. I (played) the ball safely and (made fewer) unforced errors. Instead, I let him make those. This technique barely worked, but it worked nonetheless.

“I felt pretty good going into the last set since I had finally understood how to beat him.”

Inside info per Rohatgi: “My groundstrokes went well, (and) my ball placement also worked well.

“(If) I (had) warmed up before I played, (it) would have bettered my performance.”

Fun fact: This was the first time that Eisner had to play more than two sets in a match.

Next match: The first day of the section championship tournament, which Eisner will compete in, is in Stockton on Thursday, May 3.

—By Sarina Rye

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