New Canaan Upsets Staples To Win FCIAC Boys Tennis Title

The New Canaan Rams won their first FCIAC boys tennis championship since 1995 with a dramatic 4-3 win over No. 1 seed Staples on Thursday.

The Rams (17-3), the third seed, won three of the five singles matches, with Nick Laub at No. 4 clinching the title with a three-set win at crunch time.

Danny Hirschberg, one of the top players in the state, started the contest off in the Wreckers' favor, beating Ben Lee at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-0.

Hirschberg, who recently returned from playing in the national under-18's where he won two rounds, was too strong on all fronts for Lee.

"I'd rather play (Rafael) Nadal on clay than face him," said Lee,  said Lee, who also was beaten by Hirschberg in straight sets during the regular season .

Hirschberg complimented Lee for still putting up a fight.

"I was pleased with all aspects of my game today,  which I needed against a tough opponent like Ben," he said.

At No. 2 singles, New Canaan's  Chase Urban turned the tables on Jesse Heussner, who had beaten him in a three-setter in the regular season, taking the rematch, 6-1, 6-2,  and giving the momentum back to the Rams.

"I missed a lot of short balls today and he played well," Heussner said.

Urban said he played much better today than he did in their first meeting. He added, "I felt energized throughout the match.

The Rams went ahead in the team score when Kevin Budrawich, with a lot of weapons in his arsenal, took out freshman Cam Marco, 6-1, 6-1.

The Wreckers (19-1) evened things at two matches when Graham Hyman beat Steve Evans at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-3.

But back came the Rams with a win at No.1 doubles. Peter Huff and Patrick Newton were 6-4, 6-3 winners over Kevin McDonald and Jordan Ratner.

With the Rams then leading three matches to two, the title was still up for grabs with two matches yet to be completed. The Wreckers had to win both matches—for the Rams, a split would do.

Nick Laub, at No. 4 singles for the Rams, stepped on the court to face Jake Hirschberg (Danny's younger brother). The Staples' duo of Sam Hickock and Alex Ratner won the No. 2 doubles.

As the crowd moved over to watch the two matches, things got tense.

In singles, Laub got an early break in the final set and led,  3-0. Hirschberg held serve to make it 4-1 and broke Laub in the next game to make it 4-2. But Laub broke Hirschberg again and led 5-2.

Laub was serving for the match and the FCIAC title. Hirschberg was chasing down everything, playing excellent defensive tennis and his perseverance got him another break for 5-3.

But Laub broke Hirschberg at love and the Rams had won their fourth match of the day—and the championship.

"I didn't get enough balls back and on top of that, he was clutch," Hirschberg said.

"I had to hit five winners on a number of points against him,  but my serve and forehand were pretty good today and that got me through, " Laub said.

"New Canaan is a great team, they've come a long way," Wreckers coach Kris Hrisovulos said.  " Our guys will bounce back in the states because they still want a trophy."

Winning coach Dan Borgman had told his team before the championship contest just to focus on winning each point and not on the title.

"My dream going into the season was to win a championship but after playing Staples in the regular season,  I wasn't sure we could do it," Borgman said. "But our group is a tough-minded bunch."

Both teams head into the state championships (in different divisions) starting next week.