Chelsea Tennis Ties for Fourth at D3 State Finals

The Chelsea tennis team had another strong showing at the D3 state finals, coming home with a tie for fourth place.

The fourth-place finish was the best ever for a boy’s tennis team. The Bulldogs finished with 15 points to tie with East Grand Rapids.

Julien Korner led the Bulldogs with a state runner-up finish at four singles. Korner opened with a 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals where he knocked off the fourth seed from Sturgis 6-4, 7-5. He advanced passed the number one seed from Detroit Country Day to reach the finals where he fell to the number two seed from Cranbrook 6-2, 6-2.

Two Chelsea doubles teams made it to the semifinals before bowing out.

Joshua O’Brien and Quinn Tjernagel had a strong showing with a pair of wins at one doubles. They opened with a tough three-set win 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 before knocking off the number five seed 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semis. They gave the top seed from Greenhills a run for their money but came up short in a 6-2, 7-6 (4) loss.

JP Chinavare and Owen McCulloch also reached the semifinals at three doubles. They opened with a 7-5, 6-3 win and then knocked off the four seed from Country Day 6-3, 6-2. In the semis they fell to the eventual state champions from Greenhills 6-2, 6-2.

Peter Mourad picked up one win at one-singles and Mason Strach one at two-singles.

Keegan Van Batavia and Trevor Ford teamed to win one match at three-doubles, while Evan Grudzinski and Jack Murray dropped a tough three-set match 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 in their opener.