Top seed Dickson cruises to Ches-Mont National Division Boys Singles Tennis Championship title
West Chester – Downingtown East junior Michael Dickson won the Ches-Mont National Division Boys Singles Tennis Championships title Friday morning, completing an impressive tournament run in which he won all four of his matches by scores of 6-0, 6-0.
Dickson, the top seed in the tournament, defeated West Chester Henderson senior Blake Baxter, 6-0, 6-0, in the championship final at West Chester Henderson High School.
The Downingtown East junior is undefeated so far this year after advancing to the PIAA Class AAA state singles tournament finals last spring.
“[Dickson] is very disciplined, very mature for his age,” said Downingtown East coach Chris Waychunas. “He’s a good, well-rounded individual and a good leader for this [Downingtown East] team.”
Dickson said, “The main thing for me in the finals [today] was maintaining my focus. If you can focus long enough, your game will come along with it.”
Asked what was working well for him Friday, Dickson responded, “My serve and forehand were good today. Usually my backhand is my strength.”
In the semifinals Friday, Dickson defeated West Chester Henderson’s first singles player, Matt Crawford, 6-0, 6-0.
Dickson said his favorite player is Roger Federer – “not only as a player, but as a person – he’s top class, he doesn’t do anything silly.”
The Downingtown East junior is looking to play tennis at a smaller Division I college – right now his two favorites are Butler and Valparaiso, and he has offers from both schools. In the classroom, he enjoys mathematics and said he might major in accounting or actuary science in college “but I’m not sure [of a major] yet.”
Dickson’s opponent in the championship finals, Baxter, knocked off No. 2 seed Brett Graybill of Downingtown West in the quarterfinals, then defeated Avon Grove’s Will Cavalier, 6-1, 6-0, in the semifinals.
“I hardly missed any shots in the quarterfinals and the semifinals, my game was really on,” said Baxter. “In the finals, I just couldn’t handle [Dickson’s] power.”
West Chester Henderson coach Peter Sok said, “Blake is a fighter, always gives 110 percent, and he played as best as he could against a top player [Dickson] in both the District One and the state.”
Baxter will be heading to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. next fall, where he will major in marine biology.
In the third place consolation finals, Crawford defeated Cavalier, 6-6, 6-0, giving host West Chester Henderson two of the three top finishers in the tournament.
“Matt [Crawford] is a very smart player, very methodical, and he fights hard,” said Sok.
