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By Bruce Adams
badams@21st-centurymedia.com
@BruceAdams6 on Twitter
West Chester >> The Downingtown East brother duo of junior Shrihan Madam and sophomore Vishruth Madam captured the Ches-Mont National doubles tournament title Friday at West Chester Henderson High School in convincing fashion, winning all four of their matches in straight sets during the two-day tourney.
In the championship final, the Madam brothers defeated the Downingtown West duo of junior Leo Shi and senior Jack Sheldon, 6-1, 6-2. Earlier in the day, the Cougar duo defeated Downingtown West’s Cash Bailey and Justin Brown, 6-2, 6-1.
Shrihan, who won the Ches-Mont National singles title as a sophomore, said, “I think our energy level was really high in the final, especially for Vish – he really brought it today. He was really good on his serve and he improved on things that didn’t go as well (Thursday). I built off of him, and we built off each other. It was a great match.”
Vishruth said, “I think (our chemistry) is really nice, because I know that whenever I’m doing anything wrong, I have someone there to tell me what I’m doing wrong; and if he’s doing something wrong I can help him out, so we keep improving throughout the match. So as the match goes on we keep getting better and better.”
During the regular season, Shrihan played first singles for the Cougars, and Vishruth third singles. As a doubles team, they were the top seed in the Ches-Mont National doubles tourney bracket.
Shrihan said, “Vish really keeps me in check whenever I’m getting angry; he calms me down and then I build my game up. When he has issues, I’m there for him. We complement each other’s games really well. I’m more of the aggressive guy; he’s really consistent.”
On Thursday, after an opening-round bye, the Madams won their first match 6-1, 6-4; then against Downingtown East’s Soumil Patel and Shriyan Ghati, the brothers won 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Shrihan said, “I think the big thing (Friday) was being able to hold Vishruth’s serve; today he was really consistent and we were able to build off that energy. Yesterday, we had a little bit of built-up pressure; but today Vish’s serve was so good.”
Shi and Sheldon, the third seed in the tournament, defeated the No. 2 seed, the West Chester Henderson duo of junior Patrick Sinnott and freshman Zach Evans, in the semifinal, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the finals and wrap up a berth in the upcoming District 1 3A doubles tournament (the top three doubles teams in this tourney automatically clinch a berth in the district doubles tournament).
Shi said, “In the semifinal, we played really well, Jack especially – I think he’s the best doubles player on our team. My serve was working really well – they weren’t able to break my serve in the second and third set. When they got the ball back, Jack was there to put away the ball – he was all over the court.”
During the regular season, Shi played first singles for the Whippets, while Sheldon filled the third singles spot.
Sheldon said, “In the semifinals, we stayed confident after the first set – there were probably four points there that made the difference. It was close, a lot of deuces, and we knew we could have won that set. We just stuck to what we knew. … Leo hits the ball really hard, and sometimes I’m not hitting the ball as hard but I’m placing it. I set him up, he sets me up.
“Leo and I are really good friends outside tennis, so we have really good chemistry, really good communication skills. We’re good at hyping each other up, which gathers momentum for us.”
Downingtown West boys’ tennis head coach Justin DePietropaolo said, “Leo and Jack have known each other for years, and the fact that they have that good chemistry really helps them out. This (semifinal) match was probably the best match I’ve seen Leo play; it’s a testament to his devotion to the game. Jack is sort of the heart of our team; he’s a two-year captain and we live and breathe with Jack.”
In the third-place match, in which the winner clinched a berth in the District 1 3A doubles tourney, Evans and Sinnott defeated Bailey and Brown, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Evans, who finished third in the Ches-Mont National singles tourney earlier this spring, said, “I think in our third-place match we started serving better and returning the ball better, not giving them easy points.”
Sinnott, who held down the second singles spot for the Warriors during the regular season (Evans was Henderson’s top singles player), said, “I think we were disappointed and tired after the semifinal (loss Friday); and in the second and third set (of the third-place match) we had to re-focus and that was what helped us win.”
Bailey and Brown, along with the duo of Shi and Sheldon, gave the Whippets two doubles teams among the four duos playing in the tourney Friday.
“Our doubles teams have been very strong this year, up and down the lineup,” said DePietropaolo. “Cash and Justin took the No. 2 seed to three sets, and they beat the No. 4 seed (Thursday). They’re a really good team and they jell well together. I’m impressed with how they played; they just attacked the net so well. They’re just two good athletes out there.”
NOTES: The first day of the Ches-Mont American doubles tournament, played Friday at West Chester Rustin High School, had four teams advance to the semifinals – Unionville’s Andrew Ou and Andy Ye, Great Valley’s Josh Verano and Jimmy Xiao, West Chester Rustin seniors Jack Benedetto and Vijay Upadhyay and Unionville sophomores Tucker Carroll and Luke Tierney. In the American semifinals, played Friday, Ou and Ye defeated Carroll and Tierney, 6-2, 6-1; and Verano and Xiao defeated Benedetto and Upadhyay, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0. Saturday at 9 a.m., the Unionville duo of Ou and Ye will face Verano and Xiao for the title; and the duo of Benedetto/Upadhyay will battle Carroll/Tierney for the third place spot and an automatic berth in the upcoming District 1 3A doubles tournament.
