Youth is Served at Norwich Tennis Tournament
It’s called a “tweener”, and to execute that shot you need to be young, confident and talented. Oxford’s Kyle Reiss, a recent high school graduate, is all those things. As the ball floated over his head, Reiss raced to the back court with little chance of playing the lob. Desperate, he overran the ball, positioned himself with his back to his opponent and slapped the racquet between his legs as the ball was on it’s final descent. His stunned finals opponent, Sherburne’s Peter Karaman, could only manage to get his racquet frame on the ball’s return sending it off into the fence. Point- Reiss, and eventually, the championship.
This past weekend some of the county’s best tennis players participated in the annual Norwich Tennis Tournament at Weiler Park, sponsored by the Norwich Public Tennis Club. Oxford’s Reiss, who was seeded in the state high school sectionals was the favorite going in to the tournament but he would have potential competition from 2 former Champs. However, his strongest tests came from first time participant Brain Tefft of Norwich. In the double elimination round robin, Tefft played him even but lost 8-6. They met again in the semi-finals where Reiss was again tested in a tie breaker but eventually won the match 7-6(4), 6-3.
Karaman, the 2002 champion, had a less tested road, easily dispatching all opponents including 1998 champion, Norwich’s Brian Murphy, and the always difficult Fred Bateman of McDonough in the semi’s 6-1, 6-2. The finals pitted Karaman and Reiss in contrasting styles. Karaman uses a booming serve and mixes in sliced backhands, placed cut shots, and lobs before executing his killer forehand. It was working early in both sets as Karaman had early breaks but Reiss has a unique power of his own featuring a jumping kick serve, a two handed backhand and a wicked top spin forehand. The match ultimately came down to fresh legs and finesse as Reiss showed patience in picking his spots for deft drop shots and running down Karaman’s placement. Reiss was eventually able to even each set. Both sets were ultimately won on Reiss’ service games. Reiss struggled on them all but showed heart fending off numerous deuce games and managed to break Karaman late for a tough 6-4, 6-4 win. Possibly some new found experience helped as he recently won a tournament near Cap Cod, Massachusetts
Reiss attempted to make it 2 titles in the same tournament as he teamed with his former coach, New Berlin’s Fred Fazio, in the doubles competition. Unfortunately, they ran into the juggernaut that is the team of Peter Karaman and Norwich’s Tom Mody. Mody and Karaman are undefeated in tournament finals winning in 2000 and 2002 and looked better than ever in defeating the entire field in the round robin matches, including beating the Reiss/Fazio team. The teams with the best records met in the finals so Reiss/Fazio needed to win out but were brought to the brink of elimination by the defending champs, the father & son team of Fred and Noah Bateman. The Bateman’s held a 7-5 lead but Reiss/Fazio won 3 of the next 4 games to even the set at 8 all and then cruised in a tie-breaker 7-1. Reiss/Fazio were now in a position to avenge their earlier loss, however, they happened to catch Mody on one of those days where every aspect of his power game was working and Karaman wasn’t far behind in backing up his longtime partner and rival. They dominated the final, 6-2, 6-1 for their 3rd championship in 5 years. |
