by Alec Kostival

The weather couldn’t have been better for the GFS Tigers’ first game on their home courts for the season. After the weather had caused a few cancellations early in the season, the first true day of spring weather brought good fortune to the Tigers on Thursday afternoon. Playing an improved Germantown Academy team, the boys were able to win four out of the five matches, including a sweep of all three singles matches.

First Singles set the tone for the day. Henry Ruger of GFS showed why he’s one of the top young tennis players in the Philadelphia region. Ruger made quick work of a quality opponent in Erik Pribitkin of GA. The sets went smoothly for Ruger, winning 6-0 in both.

On second singles, Danny Loder of GFS matched up against Alex Yan of GA. Both boys left everything they had on the court in what was the most tightly contested match of the day. In the first set, Loder just edged Yan, winning 6-4. With the first set in hand, Loder was just able to put Yan away in a slobber knocker 7-5 set.

“ toughed it out. In the end, he came back from 5-3 in the second set having won the first set,” said head coach Justin Gilmore. “That’s a tough situation to be in, and I think he showed great stamina and constitution to be able to really dig in and focus back on his basics.”

Tim Peterson finished up the singles sweep for the Tigers on third singles, matching up against Matt Rojas of GA. Peterson quickly went up 6-1 to take the first set and finished the match strong, winning 6-2 in the second set.

First Doubles is where GFS found their toughest opponents. Michael Harrity and Gary Palmer of GFS faced off against Fisher Rhodes and Jason Wang of GA. The first set was a pedestrian one for Harrity and Palmer, winning 6-3. Rhodes and Wang bounced back to just edge out the win in the second set 7-5. Since the overall victory was already clinched by GFS, the two teams played a super set tie-breaker, where the first pair to 10 wins and to win by two would ultimately be the victor. Rhodes and Wang again won by the skin of their teeth 11-9 to win the lone match for GA.

Second Double proved to be the clinching match of the day. The young duo of freshman Noah Eisenstein and eighth grader Rishi Cohen soundly defeated Jason Chee and Kenny Gong of GA, winning both sets 6-2.

“We have a really focused driven team and these guys really work hard every single day,” Gilmore said. “You see it on the courts and in the matches.”

On Friday, GFS was also able to defeat Friends Select 5-0. The two wins put the Tigers at 3-0 overall to start the season.