Lower Merion’s Brian Yi finishes third at PIAA 3A state singles tournament

Lower Merion’s Brian Yi finished third at the PIAA Class 3A boys tennis state singles championships May 27. Yi, who was the fourth-place finisher at the PIAA District 1 3A singles championships, defeated District 7 runnerup Devin Collier of Bethel Park in the first round of States, 6-0, 6-0; beat District 11 champion Noah Potts, 7-6 (3), 6-0; then lost to eventual state champion Mikkel Zinder of Council Rock South, 6-4, 6-3. In the third-place match, Yi defeated District 3 champion Cooper Lehman, 6-3, 6-1.

“I think the key to my performance was my serve,” said Yi. “Throughout the tournament, my serves were very strong and reliable. I was able to win easy points in key moments with either a service winner or an ace. The reliance on my serve took off the pressure on my service games and led to a more aggressive playstyle on my return games.”

Yi said his favorite memory of the tournament was when he was standing on the podium to receive his third-place medal.

“Cooper is a very tough player to play against, so I had to bring out my best game to beat him,” said Yi. “Although I have stood on the (PIAA state tournament) podium for doubles, I have never been able to make it far enough to stand on the podium for the singles championship. Being able to stand on the podium this year was surreal and I definitely want to be back next year.”

The Conestoga duo of junior Voyin Markovic and senior Aaron Sun finished second at the PIAA Class 3A boys’ tennis state doubles championships May 27. Markovic and Sun defeated the Exeter pair of Teddy Snyder and Jake Tryanski, 6-1. 7-5; defeated Cumberland Valley’s Sami Kazi and Ross Kluger, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4), defeated the Unionville senior twin duo of Abhiraj and Abhineet Srivastava, 6-4, 6-3; then lost to District 3 champions Aidan and Tyler Mahaffey (walkover-injury) in the championship finals.