Aragon Dons rule PAL boys’ tennis finals

Aragon senior Akbar Beg made good on his No. 1 seed, repeating as the PAL singles champion. Beg overcame an early deficit in the third-set super tiebreaker, rallying past Sequoia sophomore Ethan Khaw for a 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 win in a rematch of last year’s finals. Beg fell behind 5-2 to the No. 2 seed in the super tiebreaker, but used his powerful forehand to go on a 5-0 run.

“Maybe something clicked,” Beg said. “But I think I regained my confidence after winning one or two points, because he was on a little run there. ... So, I guess the confidence came back. I started to hit it a little harder, a little tougher for him to deal with.”

Khaw proved a cagey opponent, though, and rallied back to tie it 8-all. That’s when Beg, who stayed anchored to the backline to keep Khaw’s feet moving, powered up for his most pivotal forehand of the tournament, despite the nonchalant fist-pump he flashed in celebration.

“I think that one was: ‘Yeah, I got this,’” Beg said.

The doubles tournament played out much more unpredictably, with Aragon’s No. 7 seed team of Keiya Wada and Thomas Nie cruising to a 6-4, 6-0 victory over the No. 5 seed, Burlingame’s Nicholas Moshkovoy and Spencer Phonsombat.

The path to the finals wasn’t quite as smooth for Wada and Nie, as they won back-to-back super tiebreakers Wednesday. A 6-2, 2-6, 10-8 victory in the quarterfinals over Menlo-Atherton’s Rowan Hanley and Calvin Linnert pushed the Aragon tandem into the semifinals for the fourth time in their varsity career. The two had never advanced farther, taking third place in each of their underclassman years, then settling for fourth place last year.

Wada and Nie broke the curse in the semis with a 1-6, 6-3, 10-6 comeback against Burlingame’s Jake Druskin and Kieran Kilgo.

“The last two days, we’ve had a lot of comebacks,” Nie said. “Usually we’re pretty nervous about it.”

They weren’t nervous about it Thursday, though, even with the occasional softball flying onto the tennis courts from the Hillsdale-Capuchino softball game being played on the neighboring field. Wada and Nie played seamless tennis, with Wada finishing at the net with a high reach and a potent straight-down volley to wrap up the title.

“Hope for the best,” Wada said of his approach at championship point. “Put two hands in the air type of shot.”

I Beg your pardon?

After his first-set win in Thursday’s finals, Beg was so loosey-goosey, he couldn’t help dancing around during the start of the second set. It wasn’t long before he was told by a tournament official to knock it off. Beg went on to drop that second set.

“Maybe that’s why I lost,” Beg said.

Beg wasn’t trying to show up Khaw with these words. The two agreed to be interviewed together following their match and, because of the kinship they’ve formed over the last two seasons, were having fun talking a little trash to one another, winking and smiling after every such comment.

Khaw gave back what he got in talking about his fast 5-2 start in the super tiebreaker.

“He was making some errors and I was playing a little more aggressive,” Khaw said. “But then at the end of the tiebreak I started pushing way more than I should have. I got a little nervous ... and then he just took advantage of that.”

Khaw has risen through the ranks of the PAL hierarchy through his two tournament finals appearances. Last season, as a freshman out of the lower PAL Ocean Division, he entered the tourney seeded No. 7.

“That’s because I don’t play in the higher league, so they didn’t really know my skill level,” Khaw said.

He advanced to the Central Coast Section individual tournament where he fell in the first round, but pushed it to three sets against Palo Alto.

Thursday’s finals marked a homecoming of sorts for Beg, who played at Hillsdale as a freshman. He transferred to Aragon as a sophomore but, instead of sitting out the required six weeks to start the season, opted to not play at all. He returned last season and has been rolling ever since.

Beg opened the tournament with a first-round bye, and swept 6-0, 6-0 through Tuesday’s second round. Wednesday at San Mateo, he overcame a first-set loss in the quarterfinals against Woodside’s Owen Demas to claim a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-5 victory. In the semifinals, he won 6-3, 6-2 over Burlingame’s Kaden Lam.

In Thursday’s third-place singles match, Carlmont’s Aaron Zhang defeated Lam 6-3, 0-6, 10-6.

Getting the band back together

Wada and Nie were doubles partners for three straight years during the regular season, but with Aragon losing its No. 4 single early this season, Wada moved up to fill the void. As a result, Wada and Nie played as partners just three times throughout PAL Bay round-robin play, with their last pairing coming March 13.

Tuesday’s tournament opener against Oceana’s Renzo Fukuda and Russell Repil was the first time the Aragon duo played together in a month and a half.

Nie and Wada earned a 6-1, 6-0 win in the tourney opener, and advanced through to Day Two with a 6-0, 7-5 win over M-A’s Yoonwon Bae and Max Weiss.

In Thursday’s third-place doubles match, Aragon’s Darrin O’Brien and Jack He claimed a 6-2, 7-6 win over Burlingame’s Kieran Kilgo and Jake Druskin.

Each of the PAL finalists — the top two placing singles and doubles teams — advance to the CCS individual tournament at Imperial Courts in Aptos. Singles play opens Tuesday, May 20, with doubles play opening Wednesday, May 21. The semifinals and finals for both brackets are slated for Thursday, May 22.