Great Neck South's Gabrielle Villegas falls in girls state championship final
Gabrielle Villegas of Great Neck South in action during the girls singles final at the state girls tennis championships on Wednesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Even when things don’t go as planned, Great Neck South's Gabrielle Villegas doesn’t back down.
It was the big stage — the girls singles tennis state championships — but the start didn’t go in Villegas’ favor. The eighth-grader dropped the first four games in the opening set against Shenendehowa’s Jolie Chichak.
Villegas rallied to win back-to-back games before trailing again by three. She won four straight games to take the lead in the set but eventually fell in a tiebreaker as she dropped the match, 7-6 (2), 6-4, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows on Wednesday.
“I just never give up,” Villegas said. “I was down early in the first set, so I had to keep pushing myself. I don’t quit.”
Throughout the comeback, Villegas’ intensity and passion only grew. In the second set, trailing 2-0, she trimmed the deficit to 4-3 thanks to her ability to track down hard-hit balls from her opponent.
“It’s always sad when it comes to an end, but she fought,” Great Neck South coach Andrew Tuomey said. “She was down 0-4 and fought back to make it a tiebreaker. The other girl played amazing, and sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the opposition.”
Villegas battled back to tie the second set at 4-all.
“The mental aspect is so important,” Tuomey said. “If she’s happy and confident, she plays amazing. Being young and playing free and loose has worked to her advantage her whole career. She was down in a bunch of spots and didn’t let it bother her.”
On Tuesday, Villegas won two consecutive matches that went to a third set. She earned a quarterfinal victory over Division’s Lilliana Chou and then defeated Sakura Hino of Keio Academy (Purchase), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4), in the semifinals.
Syosset’s Stephanie Marcheret, the top seed in the bracket, claimed third place with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Hino.
“It feels great to get the win,” Marcheret said. “This is my first time here. I fell short a couple of times, so to finally be here — I had to stand back and think, wow, I’m actually here. It felt good.”
Ross School teammates Lillie Weiss and Lola Dangin secured third place in the doubles division after defeating Mira and Sonia Nadzan of Baldwinsville, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
“We worked all season to get here,” Weiss said. “After the loss in the semifinals, we wanted to give it our all and end on a good note, and I’m happy we did.”
“Being able to do it together with Lillie is a great feeling,” Dangin said. “We work really well together, and getting this far feels great. It’s been an amazing experience for us.”
Mount Sinai’s Sofia Perez placed sixth in the state after falling short in her final match.
Port Washington’s Evie Loewy and Brianna Lewis won their fifth-place match in the doubles division, while Syosset’s Hannah Wang and Skyler Lin captured seventh place.
