Kobe Ellenbogen, Ridgewood split large-school tennis title with Bergen Tech by Bob Shwalb special to The Record
OLD TAPPAN — Kobe Ellenbogen was admittedly “lulled into a false sense of security.”
In Saturday’s Bergen County Tennis Tournament large-schools first-singles final, the Ridgewood ace broke NV/Demarest’s Carlos Vasquez’s serve to go up 5-2 in the third set. Vasquez had taken a half-hearted swing on his next-to-last serve and then flung his racket at his bag after the game.
“At that point I thought it was over,” Ellenbogen said. “But I was very wrong.”
Ellenbogen wound up fighting for his life before winning his second-straight final over Vasquez, taking the rematch 5-7, 6-2 and 7-5. Ellenbogen also earned his team a share of the county title as the Maroons and Bergen Tech split the crown for the second straight year.
“I knew the team title was riding on my match and I didn’t want to disappoint my teammates,” Ellenbogen said. “By the end, it wasn’t even for me anymore. I had to do it for my team.”
Leading 5-2 in the third set, Ellenbogen expected to serve out the match. Instead, Vasquez broke his serve on four straight points, held his own serve and then broke Ellenbogen again to even the score at 5-5. That set the stage for an incredible 12-point Game 11 that included multiple game points for both players. Ellenbogen was “very nervous.”
“I knew whoever won that game was probably going to win the match,” Ellenbogen said. “So I kept mentally tough, stayed patient and went for the shots I could attack on. When I won that game, it was the best feeling.”
Actually, Ellenbogen felt even better after winning the next one to close it out. Vasquez was crushed despite putting on a spectacular performance of his own. While Ellenbogen held most of his service games easily, Vasquez fought tooth-and-nail to hold his serves and showed amazing resiliency throughout.
“When I was down 5-2 I just went for it,” Vasquez said. “I started swinging freely, not caring if I missed or anything. My shots started going in and I was able to come back.
“I’m upset with the result but I’m glad I was able to fight until the end.”
One of the players who witnessed the end of that incredible match was Bergen Tech’s Lucas Kim, who’d already clinched at least a share of the team title by winning the third-singles crown. Kim said that the support he received during the finals made a huge difference as he beat Don Bosco’s Alex Berina, 6-4 and 6-1.
“Winning back-to-back championships is really special for us,” Kim said. “This wasn’t supposed to be our year because we graduated a lot of key players from last year’s team. But it was really cool, seeing how everyone came together and pulled their weight.”
The last singles title went to Don Bosco freshman John Walentowicz, who shut out Bergen Tech’s Ayal Davidov in second-singles finals. Walentowicz, a four-star recruit on tennisrecruiting.net, was home-schooled the past two years but always looked towards winning a Bergen County championship.
“I had a lot of friends in high school, especially when I was in seventh grade,” Walentowicz said. “A lot of them competed in this tournament and they told me they’d won it or made it to the semifinals. I was like, ‘Wow! I want to win that!’
“I’ve been waiting for this the past two years and I’m really happy I did it.”
Speaking of winners, Northern Highlands’ Drew Perez and Allen Shen topped Ridgewood’s Matt Lai and Max Levy, 7-5 and 6-4, to take their second straight first-doubles title. On the second-doubles court, Ridgewood’s Matt Faherty and Cam Spicer bested NV/Demarest’s Ethan Weiss and Rob Slowokowski by scores of 6-1 and 6-2.