Unionville, Downingtown duos reign at Ches-Mont doubles tourney

By Bruce Adams

badams@21st-centurymedia.com

The Ches-Mont doubles tournament Saturday featured two distinctly different endings for the National and American Division tourneys.

The American Division tourney was dominated by Unionville, as the top three finishers – the top three duos earn automatic berths into the upcoming PIAA District 1 3A double tournament – were Longhorns.

The National Division tournament was an all-Downingtown affair Saturday, and the championship final at West Chester Henderson featured a riveting match between a Downingtown West doubles team and a D-East duo.

The champions of each division were Unionville seniors Andrew Ou and Andy Ye in the American, and Downingtown West junior Alex Sheldon and sophomore Justin Brown in the National. For Ou and Ye, it was their second consecutive Ches-Mont American doubles title.

Sheldon and Brown, who play second and third singles, respectively, for the Whippets this season, defeated the Downingtown East pair of sophomores Braden Tulloch and Arudra Ravikanth, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) in the championship final Saturday. Sheldon and Brown fell behind 3-0 in the first set, and the second set was a back-and-forth affair, but both times the Whippet pair battled back to become the first D-West duo to win a Ches-Mont tournament doubles title since 2018.

“It means a lot to win this, especially beating Downingtown East, our long-time rival,” said Sheldon. “When we fell behind (3-0) it was just a number; there’s six games in a set, you can always come back.

“I feel like Justin and I are two peas in a pod. We’ve always got each other’s back, and my weaknesses are his strengths. We play so well together, and we’re best friends, we have fun, which is the most important thing.”

Last spring, Sheldon and Brown filled the first doubles spot for the Whippets. The D-West duo both train at Tennis Addiction Sports Club in Exton.

“It feels great to win this,” said Brown. “Alex brings energy to (our) team; I keep it steady.”

D-West head coach Justin DePietropaolo said, “Last year, Alex and Justin had such a good rapport at first doubles. They both attack the net so well and are very aggressive. I think the key for them today was their aggressiveness; I think they really played well at the net, that’s what made the difference today.

“They’ve got a variety in their game too; they know just about every shot. They can hit the ball low, they can lob, you probably saw a 120 mph serve out there from Justin Brown (smiles), maybe not that fast but it was fast. They played singles this season but are trained how to play doubles just as well.

“I coached Arudra and Braden when they were younger; I’m proud of those guys too, and how they’ve developed their games as well.”

In the Ches-Mont American final, Ou and Ye, who play second and third singles for the Longhorns this spring, defeated Unionville’s first doubles team of juniors Luke Tierney and Tucker Carroll, 7-5, 6-4, to capture their second consecutive Ches-Mont American doubles title.

Ou said, “It’s always fun to play my teammates; the pressure isn’t really there as much so you’re able to have some fun and enjoy the tennis, and especially with it being my senior year, I’m taking in all the moments and making memories that I’ll remember for years to come.”

Ye said, “Playing (Tierney and Carroll) was a good challenge. It was a great time and I’m glad we could pull out the win.”

Ou said, “I feel we’re good at communicating with each other; it’s more than just signals, we just understand each other, we know each other’s strengths and what we’re going to do.”

For Ou, this is actually his fourth consecutive Ches-Mont American doubles title. He paired with Andrew Poprik as a freshman and with Matt Miller as a sophomore to capture the 2022 and 2023 C-M American doubles titles.

Unionville head coach Jimmy O’Rourke said, “Andrew (Ou) and Andy play as well in doubles as I’ve seen two singles players play. They don’t get to play doubles during the (regular) season but they know each other so well; they’re like-minded on the court when they play doubles. Even if they haven’t played doubles for months and months, it’s like they’re coming home to a nice warm blanket. They’re both good at their groundstrokes, very good at net and know when to attack at the net.

“The biggest thing is, singles and doubles are so different, they know that in doubles you’ve got to try to win every point at the net as best as you can, so they’re not taking risks from the baseline that they might be doing in singles.”

Tierney and Carroll had won their first three matches in straight sets to advance to the championship final.

O’Rourke said, “Luke and Tucker are undefeated for us (at first doubles) this year, they’ve only lost one set all year, and they’ve played some amazing teams, Conestoga, Downingtown East, Pennsbury, The Haverford School, Dallastown, Downingtown West.

“Usually in district doubles, it’s a bunch of singles players playing doubles and rarely do you get a team that is a true doubles team that is seeded high. I think they should (be seeded high) – they’ve proven that they’re doubles specialists, they’re tough to beat.”

In the National semifinals, Ravikanth and Tulloch defeated teammates Shriya Ghati and Connor Tulloch, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the finals. Braden Tulloch and Ravikanth play second doubles for D-East, and Connor Tulloch and Ghati play third doubles for the Cougars.

Braden Tulloch said, “I feel like (the National semifinal) was a great match. Arudra is really good at being a steady player and making serves, being consistent; and I’m really good at putting away volleys and being good at the net, and we make a really good pair. We’ve been playing really well this season.”

Ravikanth said, “I think (making district doubles) is great; I’m excited to play in that tournament.”

On Friday, Braden Tulloch and Ravikanth defeated Downingtown West’s Leo Shi and Cash Bailey in the quarterfinals.

The Cougars displayed their depth in the National doubles tourney, as three Downingtown East doubles teams advanced to Saturday’s semifinals. Ghati and Connor Tulloch finished third in the tourney, and Ashwin Natarajan and Tannav Rajendranath placed fourth. Natarajan plays first doubles for the Cougars and Rajendranath plays third singles for D-East. Natarajan and Rajendranath defeated West Chester East’s Ben Gao and Daksh Shah in the quarterfinals Friday.

Downingtown East assistant coach Mike Floreck said, “We really try to build a deep program, and I’m proud of the way our guys conducted themselves in this tournament. (Ghati and Connor Tulloch) have improved every single day they’ve stepped on a tennis court. I’m proud of the way they compose themselves and work together. I think that, with a few more weeks to practice together (Natarajan and Rajendranath) could have been the best team in this tournament.”

In the American third-place match, the Unionville pair of freshman Max Ye and sophomore Brendon Yu defeated Great Valley’s Josh Verano and Jimmy Xiao, 6-1, 6-4. Ye and Yu play second doubles for the Longhorns.

“They play with much more maturity than you would normally expect from a sophomore and a freshman,” said O’Rourke.