CIAC’s invitation to the tennis boys of the states boys was a success, can be considered a continuation

The numbers don’t lie.

All 24 single players who made it to the first CIAC Boys Tennis Invitational accepted the challenge, which is a considerable number given that during most years, all places in the State Open tend to be filled.

Jim Solomon, who has coached boys ’tennis at Hall since 1975 and been the director of the Invitational tournament, said there is a logical explanation for the answer.

The kids were eager to play, and this definitely featured the best players in the state, Solomon said. I’ve been coaching for 47 years now and thought this group was about as enthusiastic as any group I’ve ever had. They were just happy to be there, and that was also true in the tournament.

The Invitational, played in the courts of Wesleyan University in Middletown, followed class tournaments that used a head-to-head team format this season, a transition to the previously used Jamboree-style format. Post-season changes were made in January, when COVID levels were still relatively high and vaccines were still not available to many people.

We worked with a moving object, Solomon said.

Where the tournaments continue from here, the committee will make a decision next school year.

Tennis coaches have been surveyed about the team form of class tournaments three times in the last 15 seasons, Salomon said, and each time the individual form is favored by a three-on-one margin.

The coaches have now seen the differences play.

Because we were forced into this, we now have a lab and people have tried it, said Solomon on the CIAC Boys Tennis Committee. They can weigh (what they think). Most coaches liked it. We expressed the will of the coaches, so it is imperative that we get feedback and re-map the coaches. Now that they’ve seen it and how it can work, what’s the answer?

The change to class tournaments may have really helped the Invitational, which became the only unique showcase of the post season. This led to more elite players wanting to participate.

This year, it was more comprehensive, said John Keogh, chairman of the boys ’tennis committee. If you win your individual alone or as a group in a singles class tournament, the State Open is a kind of anti-climactic. The long season and the state-class tournament are so hectic that many of the best players were interested in the Open.

We invited all the best children.

The open qualifiers were singles players who made it to the state-class semifinals and doubles teams made it to the finals.

In selecting doubles and doubles teams for Invitational, the coaches provided candidates, and the committee considered several factors, including a record of loss of victory and the strength of the schedule. They were balanced with getting representation from different conferences and regions.

The challenge was the balance in terms of leagues, regions, school size and everything else, so we didn’t just end up with an FCIAC tournament or something like that, Solomon said. As the tournament leader, I watched the matches throughout the year – how they did and how they competed against each other.

In the duel, undefeated Staples Tighe Brunetti was No. 1, followed by Norwalks Prem Dave in second, Daniel Hands Joshua Israel and 3rd Wardes Petro Kuzmenok.

We sowed it based on what we thought was careful, and that’s why you got a fair draw, Keogh said. We were able to do it because even though there were kids on better records, we knew they were definitely the best players, and after that there was a drop. And we got it right.

Three of the top four seeds made it to the semifinals, which was joined by Xavier’s No. 6 seed Matt Fuffo.

Kuzmenok, a fourth seed and sophomore, was the tournament champion after defeating Brunetti in the 5-7, 7-6 (5), 14-12 semifinals and Dave in the 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 finals.

In the doubles, the top four seeds made all the semifinals, with Bradley Shappard and Staples ’Kuke Brodsky tandem winning the championship in the series with Daniel Reilly Vejar and William DeChabert 7-5, 6-1.

The level of competition and the enthusiasm of players to play in the Invitational can influence what future decisions are made.

We had enough players, everyone had a reasonable chance, and we were able to respect kids from all over the state, Keogh said. When we think about what you’re going to do next year, we really liked Invitational. It was the best thing that happened this year.

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