FIRST CLASS: Princeton High boys’ tennis player Garrett Mathewson blasts a backhand in a match earlier this spring. Last Friday, sophomore Mathewson produced a straight-set win at first singles to help top-seeded PHS defeat fifth-seeded Middletown South 5-0 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 3 semis. The Tigers, who improved to 16-0 with the win, were slated to host second-seeded WW/P-South in the sectional final on June 4 with the victor advancing to the Group 3 state semis on June 6 at the Mercer County Tennis Facility. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Even though Garrett Mathewson is just a sophomore, he hasn’t been fazed by moving into the first singles spot this spring for the Princeton High boys’ tennis team.

“It has been great, it feels good to be at first singles,“ said Mathewson. “Last year I was at three, it was kind of hard.”

In facing a higher level of competition this spring in the top singles spot, Mathewson has focused on staying in the moment.

“It is just playing your game, you just play your best,” said Mathewson. “If you know you played your best, win or lose, you know you played good stuff.”

Last Friday, Mathewson played well, producing a straight-set win at first singles to help top-seeded PHS defeat fifth-seeded Middletown South 5-0 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 3 semis. The Tigers, who improved to 16-0 with the win, were slated to host second-seeded WW/P-South in the sectional final on June 4 with the victor advancing to the Group 3 state semis on June 6 at the Mercer County Tennis Facility.

“He hit very flat, it was pretty annoying,” said Mathewson, reflecting on his 6-0, 6-2 victory over Middletown South’s Gabriel Allen. “It was sticking to my game, trying to play through it. Sticking to the fundamentals and all of that.”

With a year of high school play under his belt, Mathewson has raised his game.

“I think it is experience, I have played a lot more tennis,” said Mathewson. “Last year I was coming off of a long break, I was coming off of six months of no tennis. I am in the swing of things this year. It has been a lot of tennis, a lot of tournaments. My serve has been great lately. I have been working on my slice serve. I have been playing better tennis.”

Mathewson has formed a potent one-two punch this season at the top of the PHS lineup with second singles senior star Melvin Huang.

“He hasn’t lost a match this year so it feels good to have somebody solid in the two position,” said Mathewson.

Overcoming Huang in the challenge match to earn the first singles spot was a testament to Mathewson’s progress.

“It was a 10-8 tiebreaker in the challenge match,” said Mathewson. “It is fun playing Melvin, it is fun to improve. Last year I lost 4 and 2 to him. I am getting better at tennis and I am having more fun this year. It is all good stuff.”

With Huang unavailable for the Middletown South match, PHS showed its depth as a shuffled lineup posted five straight-set wins in the match.

“We have really strong doubles,” said Mathewson. “We have a mostly intact team from last year actually. Of course we lost Jonathan [Gu] which was bad. I think our doubles is mostly intact and we got some good freshmen players. We got Tacto [Yamada]. Emil [Kapur] is playing today, usually he is not but he is a really good alternate.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert was pleased with how her players came though as adjusted to the changed lineup. Andrew Kuo posted a 6-1, 6-4 win at second singles and Aashil Patel prevailed 6-1, 6-2 at third singles. At first doubles, Aman Kapur and Yamada won 6-0, 6-0 while the second doubles pair of Shaan Zaveri and Emil Kapur rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 victory.

“Overall they had a great match, everyone was on their game,” said Hibbert. “It was a pretty comfortable win overall. It was nice, especially with having to shift the lineup around. We weren’t sure what to expect. We have been practicing those doubles pairings a bit because we have had to do them for other matches so it is not brand new. We have worked with them for a little while to get ready because we knew this was coming.”

The Tigers displayed their talent as they didn’t miss a beat assuming different roles. Patel, who has been a fixture at first doubles this spring for PHS, stepped into the third singles spot on Friday with Kuo moving up to second singles from third and Emil Kapur coming into second doubles.

“Aashil is a great singles player as well, it is nice for him to get to step up and play some singles matches,” said Hibbert. “Emil is right on the cusp for us. It is nice for him to get the chance to step in a state match and prove that he can hang with this lineup. Andrew has played some great matches for us as well. It is a tough county. There are some great players, he has had good results for us overall.”

Hibbert credits Mathewson, who has made great strides this spring.

“Garrett worked really hard on his game in the offseason,” said Hibbert. “He came out last year as a freshman and he played very well. He has played more tennis and he has added more power, strength, and consistency on his game. I think just the year of experience of high school tennis has made him more confident and stronger. He had a couple of tough matches last year. I think those combined with the extra experience has helped him really grow into a solid player.”

Having Mathewson and Huang leading the way at singles gives PHS a lot of confidence.

“To have two players above an 8.5 UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) at the top of your lineup, it starts you out on a good tone,” said Hibbert. “Most of the guys in our lineup are around 7.0 or above. They are very solid from top to bottom. Some teams have a real solid one, maybe a two and there is a drop off where really we have a very consistent team.”

That consistency has been demonstrated this spring as PHS has won each match 5-0 in starting 16-0.

We started off the season with a good match against South, and that helped us a bit and set the tone for the season,” said Hibbert, referring to a 5-0 win over the Pirates on April 5. “We obviously did benefit from North not having a full lineup the day we played them (a 5-0 win on May 9). There is no way to know what would have happened otherwise.”

In the state tournament rematch this week against WW/P-South, who edged PHS 3-2 in the sectional final last year, Hibbert knows that anything can happen.

“It is a replay, except on different courts,” said Hibbert. “We will hope the result goes the same way as it did at the beginning of the season, not last season. It could go either way. They switched Koku [Ramaswamy] and Shritan [Gopu] in counties. They have been shifting their doubles around. It has been close matches when we have played them. You can beat somebody on Monday and lose to them on Tuesday when you are at this level. We will just hope that our home court is a bit of an advantage this year.”

True to form, Mathewson isn’t fazed by the challenge.

“We have to stay in it and know what went wrong last year and have the confidence of our undefeated season going into it,” said Mathewson. “I don’t know who I am going to play, they have been juggling a little bit. Whoever I play, it is going to be a good match and I am looking forward to it.”