GOSHEN – Alexis Michael made it to the state girls tennis tournament as a doubles player a year ago, but there was still an urge to give singles a try this year.
She thought and thought, and probably took her decision up to the last possible second, but the Middletown senior decided to go the doubles route again, and it paid off in a big way.
Paired with freshman Sandra Habwe, the duo played together for the first time at last week’s Orange County championships and won. As a top seed for the Section 9 tournament, the Tall Queens, as Michael calls themselves, are gaining momentum as they learn to complement each other’s game.
It was four matches and four wins for the pair at Match Point Tennis on Tuesday and Wednesday, culminating with a closing run for the ages in a 6-2, 7-5 win over Warwick’s Leah Scalo and Keri Leahey in the championship match. Both pairs advance to the state meet.
Tied at 1-all in the second set, Middletown gave up four consecutive games and even trailed in game that could have sent it to a third set. But Habwe and Michael rolled off six consecutive games to close out the match.
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“It was a hard game but we pushed through,’’ Habwe said. “We really wanted this. We had a great mindset going into the second set but it wasn’t in our favor in the beginning. … We just weren’t at the top of our game and then we had to push through and start fresh and grind to the end.’’
Both Michael and Habwe said there was no talk in conceding the final game down 5-1 because neither wanted to play a third set.
“We trusted ourselves and our coach trusted us,’’ Habwe said.
Michael made her choice to play doubles after studying the challenging field in singles, believing she could be more competitive in doubles.
“I can figure it out easier for doubles,’’ said Michael, who also plays mixed doubles with her brother. “I love doubles. It’s just so fun. It’s somebody having your back because in singles, it’s just you, but for doubles you have somebody there to pick you up.’’
Habwe says the pair complement one another, Michaels playing stronger at the net and Habwe stronger on the groundstrokes.
In the morning semifinals, Michael and Habwe downed Warwick’s Danika Brezina and Celia Greco 6-4, 6-2, and Scalo and Leahey beat Washingtonville’s Maddy Kantor and Addison Davis 6-3, 6-1. Brezina and Greco advanced to states with the consolation win over Kantor and Davis, 6-3, 6-7 (8-6), 6-3.
The state tournament returns to the U.S.T.A. National Tennis Center in Flushing on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Middletown pair claim Section 9 doubles championship
