Panther Creek’s boys tennis team outlasts Green Hope

It took nearly 5 1/2 hours of competition and a change of venues for Panther Creek’s boys tennis team to outlast Green Hope 5-4 in a Monday afternoon match that turned into a Monday evening affair.

The showdown for the Southwest Wake Athletic Conference regular-season title began at 3:30 p.m. on the Panther Creek campus courts. But with only four courts and no lights, the long doubles matches led to delays rotating the six singles matches onto the available courts.

Panther Creek sophomore Sidd Pal and Green Hope junior Rohit Ghotkar didn’t begin warming up at No. 4 singles for the decisive team point until 6:30 p.m. Pal led 4-0 when play was suspended at 7:48. Everyone packed up to finish under the lights at the Cary Tennis Center.

With loud roars from the crowd for each back-and-forth point, Ghotkar broke Pal twice to tie the match at 4-4. But Pal pulled it out the fifth and sixth for the winning team point. He was mobbed by teammates who rushed onto the court.

“This is my biggest win,” Pal said. “I haven’t been playing well under pressure as I’ve gotten older, but I tried to give it my best for my teammates. Roh is a great player – it could have gone either way.”

With the win, Panther Creek improved to 12-0 in SWAC competition (13-0 overall) and opened a two-game lead on Green Hope (11-3, 10-2 SWAC). With only four SWAC matches remaining and a four-game lead on Middle Creek, the Catamounts all but mathematically wrapped up the title.

Panther Creek, which beat Green Hope 6-3 in the first meeting, had to overcome a 2-1 deficit in doubles. That was a reverse from the first meeting when Green Hope trailed 2-1 after doubles.

Green Hope seniors Eshaan Javalkar and Matthew Whitney recorded an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles and junior Ben Wayand and freshman Vivek Ramesh also an 8-5 victory at No. 1 doubles.

In singles, Whitney won at No. 6, 6-3, 6-4, and Javalkar, 7-6, 3-6 (10-8), for a 4-2 team lead.

That’s when Panther Creek rallied with wins at No. 2 from freshman Alex Kim, 6-4, 4-6 (10-6) and freshman Donovan Lilov at No. 3, 6-2, 6-2, to tie the match and shift the attention to Pal and Ghotkar.

“It was a privilege to play in such an intense match,” Pal said. “Tennis is a great sport.”

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Panther Creek’s boys tennis team outlasts Green Hope."