A friendly competition took center stage during Day 2 of the WIAA state boys individual tennis tournament Friday, as Middleton’s Ethan Bo and Koji Heineman faced off in the quarterfinals.
Bo said he wished he could’ve played anyone else, but after the match’s first point the competitor in him took over.
After battling each other for the past few months in practice, it took two hours before Bo prevailed 6-2, 6-2.
“It’s tough when you look at the draw and see you’re going to play someone you’ve played so much in the last couple months,” Heineman said. “Knowing it has gone back and forth quite a bit, its an uneasy feeling in my stomach but whoever comes to play today is they guy who’s going to win.”
Bo advances to the semifinals for the second consecutive year.
People are also reading…
He will match up against De Pere’s Nicholas Balthazor, who eliminated Middleton’s Alexander Bo 7-5, 6-2 in the second round and his friend Madison West’s Ethan Yu 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Ethan Bo said after watching Balthazor on Friday, he must watch out for his forehand and serve.
“I’ve played this guy before and lost every single time so I’ll see if I can change that while also avenging my brother,” Bo said.
Despite the loss, Heineman said he will be supporting Bo as he goes for a state championship.
The junior still has a chance to win a state championship himself, when Middleton competes at the state team tournament next weekend.
“Next week at team state’s the No.1 thing I’m looking forward to knowing I don’t have to play him again but were going to try and win the school’s first team title,” Heineman said.
Doubles play
Middleton’s Jonathan Kim and Neal Mukherjee will be the only Madison-area doubles team playing in the semifinals on Saturday.
This comes after the duo won three matches Friday, all in straight sets.
The seniors said being doubles partners for the past 13 years gives them an advantage over the competition.
They will face Cedarburg’s Chatton Haws and Keenan Haws in the semifinals.
“We definitely have a lot of motivation going in with both individual and team state, so we want to perform to the best of our abilities because this is our last shot,” Kim said.
Sam Weinbach and Gokul Kamath of Madison Memorial were the other area team that advanced to the quarterfinals.
This came after a 6-0, 6-4 third-round win over Hamilton’s Nathan Rose and Alex Yan in which Kamath said was the most beautiful match they’ve played.
“I think the thing that separated us from them was the different level of intensity and focus we brought on every point,” Weinbach said.
The quarterfinals were a different story for the Spartans, as they lost 6-2, 6-1 to Lincoln Marshall and Daniel Egelhoff from Milwaukee Marquette.
Kamath and Weinbach said the No. 4 seed was a tougher challenge because of their height advantage and ball placement.
The duo can still accomplish their goal of placing in the top five.
“When I looked at the bracket I wanted to make it to the quarterfinals and after that I wanted to be on the podium, which is still possible,” Kamath said.