STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- James Anzalone, who was the subject of a story on SILive.com last week, became the first St. Joseph by-the-Sea tennis player to capture the Staten Island Interscholastic boys’ singles championship since the tournaments inception in 1951.
Little was know on Anzalones abilities as Sea does not field a boys’ team. However, he showcased his ability with a sound 6-2, 6-1 victory over a competitive Nick Loci of McKee/Staten Island Tech) in the tourney final at the College of Staten Island courts.
In the first set, Anzalone started on fire with a powerful serve and got an early break for a 3-0 lead. Loci settled down and held the next two service games to get to 2-4, but after another strong hold by Anzalone he broke Nico with three straight winners to capture the first set.
In the second, Anzalone started to roll as errors crept into Loci’s game. In a flash it was 5-0 before Loci rebounded with a love hold for 5-1. The comeback didn’t last long as Anzalone held again with a pair of aces and a service winner to put himself in the record books.
In earlier semifinal action, Anzalone def Nick Acquilano (Staten Island Academy) 10-0 and Nico def Daniel Weisberg (Tottenville) 10-2.
In doubles’ action, brothers Michael and Brian Olsen looked pretty flawless in capturing a pair of matches to win the boys’ title.
In the semifinal, the brother duo disposed of MSIT teammates Mark Forunda/Alex Lin, 10-3. before dominating defending champions and teammates, Sean Dietsch/Ben Khobot, 10-2.
In the final, Khobot/Dietsch broke Brian Olsen to get back on serve 2-1 but then the Olsens caught fire with some nifty volley play to run off six straight games for a 8-1 lead.
The defending champs broke Michael to make it 8-2 but a quick break of Dietsch set up Brian’s strong service game to ice the match.
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NOTES: The win by the Olsens made them the first father-son champions of the Interscholastics, according to tourney director Greg Hansson. Eric Olsen (father) won the singles title in 1986 and 1987 as a Port Richmond Raider ... The girls’ double finals and singles SF are slated for Friday and Saturday.