Warde’s Kuzmenok wins state title

Sophomore bests Norwalk’s Prem Dave in three sets

MIDDLETOWN — Without much face-to-face time for training or competitive tennis during the pandemic last year, Petro Kuzmenok spent a good deal of time working on improving his serve.

He was rewarded this season with a booming shot, better placement, and, as of Thursday, a State championship.

Kuzmenok, a Warde sophomore, rebounded from a first-set loss and defeated Norwalk senior Prem Dave in the final to capture the first CIAC Boys Tennis Invitational singles crown, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 at the Wesleyan University courts.

Kuzmenok, the No. 4 seed, knocked off the top two seeds on back-to-back days. He defeated No. 1 Tighe Brunetti of Staples 5-7, 7-6 (5), 14-12, in the semifinals on Wednesday, before beating Dave, the No. 2 seed, in the final. Kuzmenok had lost to both players during the regular season.

“I didn’t even know we were going to have a season, so I’m really thankful for this,” Kuzmenok said. “I thought I was going to slip a little, lose a lot of my skill during the pandemic and quarantine. It was good to see that I can still maintain a high level, against good competition. It was a lot of fun.”

Staples, which won the Class LL championship last week, claimed the doubles championship, as No. 1 seeds senior Bradley Sheppard and junior Luke Brodsky won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1, over second-seeded Reilly Vejar and William deChabert of Daniel Hand.

Sheppard and Brodsky trailed 5-3 in the first set but rallied to win the final four games and then took the second set in style.

“I’m just really amped,” Sheppard said. “We were down 3-5 first set and we just really got our energy together, really got pumped and we fought hard, we got loose and won four games straight. From there, we knew we could win the second set and we took off from there.”

“I mainly did it for Bradley because he’s a senior,” Brodsky said. “Every match would be his last match if we didn’t go all the way through. I really wanted to give him a gift and the names go up on the Staples board.”

Sheppard and Bradley became doubles partners during the preseason, after Sheppard called coach Kris Hrisovulos with a suggestion.

“I told him I thought we would be a really good doubles team,” Sheppard said. “I felt like we had good play styles that matched with each other and we have good chemistry.”

“He played deuce, I play ad, and we liked where we were,” Brodsky said. “Being aggressive, we both had the same ideas.”

It turned out to be a key move for Staples, as the pair was unbeaten this season and swept through the Invitational, winning every round in straight sets.

For Kuzmenok, falling behind in his match presented a challenge, but he was able to regroup after taking to coach John Harvey.

“In the first set, I was missing a lot of backhand returns, primarily at the net,” Kuzmenok said. “So I was focusing on trying to keep Prem deep, so instead of being on the defensive all the time, I could hit more approach shots, come to the net and be more aggressive, which helped me a lot in the next two sets.”

Dave was wrapping up a tremendous career during which he won CIAC Class LL and Open doubles championships with Taishi Hosokawa as a freshman, reached the quarterfinals of the Class LL singles bracket as a sophomore, and now finished as runner-up at the Invitational.

After jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the decisive third set, Kuzmenok focused on not letting the momentum slip away.

“Usually, I have a lot of issues maintaining that kind of focus so I tend to blow a lot of leads,” he said. “I was trying not to go for too many giant shots because with all the pressure, I probably wasn’t going to make the most of them. This time, I was determined to keep my confidence and my focus.”

After playing two threesetters against great opponents the past two days, Kuzmenok was ready to wrap it up.

“I’m a little tired today,” he said with a smile. “But it was a lot of fun and I really enjoy those kinds of matches.”