Unbeaten Brookline tennis advances to state final

BROOKLINE — Coming into Sunday’s Div. 1 boys tennis state semifinal at Waldstein Park, host Brookline had to feel good about its singles lineup. If the Warriors handled those as expected, they would advance past fellow unbeaten Lexington.

And that’s exactly what they did.

Brookline was dominant there, and earned a doubles point, too, to win 4-1 and move on to Tuesday’s state final against Westboro.

With the win, Brookline improved to 19-0, has won 59 straight matches, and is on the cusp of its third straight state title, winning in 2018 and 2019.

“We definitely motivate each other in practice,” said third singles Noah Schwartz, who won his match, 6-0, 6-3. “That really keeps the confidence up during our matches. I’m really glad that all the singles have been carrying well this year. … (The doubles have) been doing a great job, too, this year. I’d like to see them get some wins in the state championship, because they deserve the credit, too, not just us.”

Leading the way was first singles player Jay Devaiah, the top-ranked junior in Massachusetts. He was terrific in a 6-0, 6-0 win that was the first result of the early evening. Schwartz then took his victory, and Sam Feldman clinched it not long after with a 6-3, 6-2 win.

“(The singles have) been solid all year round. They’ve been solid since (2018 and 2019) when they won it,” firstyear Brookline coach Mike Mowatt said. “They are very experienced players. They’ve played a lot of USTA. That helps in tight matches. They play the big points well, and they are the most amazing defensive players I’ve ever seen. They get every ball back. They do splits to get the ball. That’s what I’ve noticed, and I’ve had several coaches say the same thing. Jay gets every ball back, and never gives away a free point. That’s great. It really sets us apart from other teams.”

With the outcome long since decided, Brookline earned a point from first doubles when a Lexington player retired from injury. The Minutemen (16-1) earned their point in second doubles with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win from Kevin Polachal and Archit Kumar.

Brookline’s success is not lost on its players, who know just how hard it is to win at the highest level in Massachusetts.

“It’s really amazing, what we’ve accomplished,” said Schwartz. “It’s too bad we couldn’t do it last year in the pandemic to get a potential four straight. If we get this third, I’d be really happy with that, too.”