Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 2, 1995 TAG: 9506020104
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Maymi, playing a more patient match than he did Wednesday in a loss in the team competition, defeated Henley 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win the Group AA boys' tennis title Thursday at Virginia Tech's Burrows-Burleson Center.
``I knew what to expect out of him today,'' said Maymi, who was routed 6-0, 6-2 in York's 6-3 victory. ``Yesterday, he kept a lot more balls in play than I expected.''
After playing nearly 12 hours of tennis and orchestrating an improbable comeback to advance to the individual title match, Henley's physical condition had to be considered a question mark.
``Maybe a little,'' said Henley, when asked if he tired during the match. ``But it didn't affect the outcome at all. He played out of this world, and I didn't play as well'' as Wednesday.
Maymi set the tempo for the match with his aggressive style of play, and it paid dividends. Trailing 4-3 in the first set, he faced a pair of break points and appeared to be in danger of losing control of the match. Six points later, Maymi had hit four winners and held serve to even the set.
At that point, Maymi seized control of the match. After breaking Henley in the next game, he closed the set with three service winners. Maymi then opened a 5-3 lead in the second set and appeared to be cruising to a straight-sets victory.
But Henley would not go quietly. He held serve to make the score 5-4, but had won only four points in Maymi's previous three service games. After raising the level of his game and taking advantage of the errors that crept into Maymi's game, Henley captured the next three games and the second set 7-5.
Henley's second-set comeback stirred memories of Wednesday's semifinal heroics, when he staved off three match points and rallied from a 4-1 deficit in a third-set tie-breaker to defeat Blacksburg's Robert Gibb and advance to the final.
``I knew he could come back,'' Maymi said. ``I wanted to go out and win the first game of the [third] set and gain the momentum.''
Maymi took the first three games of the deciding set, two of which were service breaks. He closed out Henley with a booming first serve that the Salem player was unable to put in play.
Earlier in the day, Maymi led York to a 5-4 victory over James Monroe in the team competition. Maymi teamed with his brother, Sean, to clinch the title with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at first doubles. The Maymi brothers won the doubles title with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of Chad Jones and Hank Raineiro of Virginia-Bristol.
Henley and Will Wimmer dropped a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 decision to Chris McLaughlin and Will Dickinson of James Monroe in the consolation match.
by CNB