Menlo boys’ tennis grabs CCS title with thrilling 4-3 win over Bellarmine

Sutaria was a fitting victor as the junior’s animated on-court antics were drawing eyes among the packed house at Wunderlich Tennis Courts even while all seven matches were going on concurrently. By the time Menlo’s 4-3 victory over Bellarmine was winding down though, all the other matches had finished leaving all eyes on Sutaria and Khuntia. They bounced back for a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory over MJ Simmons and Jacob Callahan after dropping a dramatic second-set tiebreaker.

“That was tough but me and my partner, we’ve been playing together for four or five years now, we’re best of friends and we just knew that we had to fight to the end,” Sutaria said. “And we just came out in that third set with everything we had.”

Menlo’s title chances hung in the balance early and were looking grim after Bellarmine’s No. 3 doubles, Jono Moore and Alex Nguyen, won 6-4, 6-4 to give the Bells a 3-2 lead on the best-of-seven team scorecard.

But Menlo No. 3 single Evan Burnett won a gritty second-set tiebreaker for a 6-0, 7-6 (5) victory over Anish Lolabattu to set the stage for the big celebration to come on the No. 1 doubles court.

“I just kind of dug down and won it for my teammates,” Burnett said. “It was a team effort and I just wanted to win it more than him.”

Menlo head coach Bill Shine said the match hinged on the No. 2 singles court, where Menlo’s Mick Tamas held strong for a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Darian Quinonez. Last season, prior to the cancelation of all spring sports due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tamas played as Menlo’s No. 1 single. He moved to No. 2 this year after current No. 1, junior Alex Volgin, went through a growth spurt in the offseason.

“I thought Mick Tamas at No. 2 was big,” Shine said. “I thought his was going to be the deciding match, to be honest with you. Everybody just kept fighting and Bellarmine made it harder in the other matches that I thought we’d do better at. But our guys fought. It’s not easy when you get to the finals of this particular section. It’s really good teams … so, we were fortunate to get it done. So, I’m proud of the boys.”

Volgin fell to Bellarmine No. 1 Luke Casper 6-3, 6-3, but Menlo swept through the remainder of the singles matches. Menlo No. 4 Rishi Jain won 6-2, 6-2 over Justin Peng.

But Bellarmine’s doubles teams kept up the pressure. No. 2 doubles Jeff Golan and James Le won 6-3, 6-4 over Menlo’s Nikhil Rajavasireddy and Justin Tian.

Then the No. 1 doubles match got dramatic. And how.

Up 1 set to 0, Sutaria and Khuntia trailed 5-3 in the second set but rallied back to tie it on a clutch service break. And when the Knights duo went up 6-5 on a service ace by Khuntia, Sutaria’s animated fist pump seemed to signify the end was near. It wasn’t, though, as Simmons finished off the game-tying win with a smooth forehand that nestled inside the sideline to make it 6-6.

Bellarmine’s No. 1 doubles won the tiebreaker to force a decisive third set, but Menlo responded with five straight wins to go up 5-0.

“At the start you could tell we relaxed too much after we won the second,” Simmons said. “And then they definitely kept getting pumped up. So, that’s how they grabbed the early lead.”

Sutaria wasn’t going to be denied his spirited celebrations, though. Spirited they were, as well as frequent. The junior was so energized following critical points that he’d run around the court, fist pumping and yawping like something from the 1990s pro wrestling circuit.

“You really just have to suck it up,” Simmons said of his response to Sutaria’s antics. “It’s just what happens with tennis. It’s the same thing at Wimbledon, if the crowd favors someone … you really just have to watch the ball. That’s the only thing that really matters.”

For Sutaria’s reserve doubles partner, though, the antics are something of a tactical boost.

“He really pumps me up and, when it comes to a big moment, we’ll just show up as a different breed,” Khuntia said. “And we’ll show them what we’re made of.”

Sutaria and Khuntia draw on a wealth of experience as well, having played together since they were 12. They only paired up at Menlo this season when Khuntia transferred in from Mountain View High School. But they essentially discovered the world of competitive club tennis as doubles partners at the Mountain View Tennis Club.

“We were both clueless tennis players,” Sutaria said. “We didn’t have that much experience but we both worked our butts off to get where we are now.”

Their partnership at MVTC was brief, but they reunited at Eagle Fustar Tennis Academy in Sunnyvale and have been pairing ever since.

“I’ve always been a little more outgoing and he’s a little bit more grind-in-silence kind of guy,” Sutaria said. “But we [mesh] really well when we’re together on the court. He’s always there to keep me calm and keep me focused, and I’m there to hype him up.”