Peninsula Athletic League singles and doubles tennis champs crowned

In the doubles draw, fifth-seeded Jordan Lee and Lucas Kuo of Woodside came from the pack to claim the PAL doubles championship, knocking off second-seeded Thomas Greenleaf and Rafa Kroes in a third-set tiebreak — 6-4, 2-6, 11-9 — Thursday afternoon at San Mateo High School.

Rowe won his first 13 matches of the season, 12 in Bay Division play and one more in the first round of the PAL CCS play-in tournament, without dropping a set. But in the play-in tournament final against Burlingame’s Kaden Lam, Rowe dropped his first set of the season.

Turns out if would be the only set he would lose. He went on to beat Lam in a third-set tiebreaker before Rowe began his march through the PAL singles draw.

After a first-round bye, he won his next three matches in straight sets, dropping just six games.

“I was trying new things in my game (early in the tournament),” said Rowe, a sophomore who transferred from Pinewood this school year but is playing his first season of high school tennis.

But in the finals against Zhang, Rowe turned back to his tried-and-true: a booming serve and a thumping forehand. And in the end, he was simply too much for Zhang to handle as Rowe punched his ticket to the CCS singles tournament with the win.

“Aaron played really well,” Rowe said. “Going into the season, the goal was the play CCS.”

Zhang was just happy to be there. The Scots’ No. 1 singles player last year, he was bumped down to No. 2 this season. Rowe was so good that the two didn’t even play challenge matches to determine the ladder order.

“This was the first time I ever played him. I just tried to play aggressive and take chances,” Zhang said. “He has a big serve and he hits (winners) from both wings.”

With Rowe such a huge favorite, Zhang’s championship match really came in the semifinals. Zhang had won his second-round and quarterfinal match in straight sets to set up a final four match against second-seeded Ethan Khaw of Sequoia.

Facing Khaw for the third time in their careers, Zhang finally broke through, posting a 7-5, 7-5 win to advance to the final.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to win in the semis,” Zhang said.

In the doubles final, Woodside head coach Lauren Denenberg teamed up her No. 2 singles player, Lee, and No. 3 singles player, Kuo to play doubles in the PAL tournament and earned the fifth seed.

It’s not uncommon for singles players to team up for doubles tournaments, but Lee and Kuo were not completely foreign to the concept of doubles play, or each other.

“Last year, we played (doubles) together,” Kuo said.

“I felt we could win,” Lee said. “We played well together (last year).”

After a first-round bye, Lee and Kuo won their next two matches in straight sets to advance to the semifinals where they faced top-seeded Kieran Kilgo and Jake Druskin — who like Lowe, had not been beaten in PAL play this season.

Until Wednesday, when Lee and Kuo handed them a 6-4, 6-3 defeat to advance to the doubles finals.

On the other side of the net was the second-seeded team from M-A. Greenleaf and Kroes played at No. 1 doubles all season for the Bears, but they found themselves down a set after Lee and Kuo won 6-4. The set was tied at 3-all before the Woodside pair got back-to-back service breaks to take a 5-3 lead and then held serve to win the set.

But Greenleaf and Kroes came roaring back in the second set. With it tied at 2-all, the M-A team won the next four games to force a third-set, super tiebreaker.

And the Bears were on the verge of winning it, opening up an 8-7 lead. But the Woodside duo held firm and eventually pulled away for a 11-9 decision to claim the PAL doubles title.

“As singles players, we bring some singles strength (to doubles),” Kuo said.

In the third-place singles match, Sequoia’s Khaw had to rally from a set down to beat fifth-seeded Ethan Liu of Mills. Liu won the first set 6-3 and had Khaw frustrated with himself.

But Khaw pulled it together, winning the second set 6-3 and then winning the match 10-6 in the super tiebreaker.

The third-place doubles match was an all-Burlingame affair and in the end, the Panthers’ No. 2 doubles team of Tyler Diddy and Aaron Lo, the No. 6 seed, knocked off teammates Kilgo and Druskin — 6-3, 7-5.