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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Bhatt's Pairing With Applequist Leads to Memorable MCT Ride
By Bill Alden
At last fall's Mercer County Tournament, Princeton High's Garima Bhatt played third singles and didn't last long as she was knocked out in the first round.
Teaming up with Crystal Applequist this season at second doubles, Bhatt had a much longer stay at the 2004 MCT as the pair won the title last Wednesday at Mercer County Park after coming from behind to win three-setters in both the semifinals and the championship match.
The pair's marathon 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 win over the Hun School team of Ashley Wycoff and Nora Saunders in the title match provoked an emotional display as Ghatt and Applequist hugged and sobbed tears of joy after their triumph.
Afterward, Bhatt declared she was glad to have made the switch to doubles. "This is incredible," said Bhatt, smiling as she regained her composure. "Crystal keeps me motivated. There is no one else who can get me motivated like her. She's always got my back and I depend on her."
Applequist, who is in her first season at the varsity level, has come to depend on her partner.
"I need Garima to help me out," asserted Applequist. "If I played singles, I wouldn't have Garima there to tell me bend your knees, go low to high. We help each other out. Garima is a lefty and I'm a righty and that works really well. We feel very comfortable together."
The players, who are both seniors, though, needed some tenacity to go with their chemistry in order to take the MCT crown. "They are fighters," said PHS head coach Sarah Heyman.
"They have a good time out there too. They know how to pump each other up. They really showed their determination today after losing the first set in the title match. I knew they could dig deep and pull it out if they believed in themselves."
The Bhatt/Applequist team needed to draw on all their resources as it emerged as the only obstacle keeping team champion Hun from sweeping all five flights of the competition.
After looking tense in dropping the first set to Hun, the PHS pair loosened up and cruised to a 6-3 win in the second set and jumped out to a 3-0 in the deciding set. Wycoff and Saunders, however, fought back to even the set at 5-5 and eventually force a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Bhatt and Applequist weren't about to be denied as they won the first six points on the way to a 7-1 win.
For Bhatt and Applequist, the experience of having come from behind in the semifinals gave them confidence when they found themselves trailing in the final.
"We had lost the first set in the semis," explained Applequist. "We knew we could come back because we had done it before. We were nervous coming into the final so we just decided to go out there and have a good time. When we realized we could really win it we were like oh my God let's take this, we can do it."
Bhatt also had to overcome some butterflies. "I was like here we go again," recalled Bhatt. I didn't have a lot of confidence. We were on the defensive, we were the underdogs."
Having made it through the battles last Wednesday, Bhatt thinks the sky is the limit for her partnership with Applequist.
"I am so much more confident after this," declared Bhatt. "I wouldn't trade this for anything."
