Who is still playing in the final day of the OHSAA boys tennis tournament?
Day one of the Ohio High School Athletic Association's boys tennis tournament started with athletes from seven Cincinnati schools competing for a state title. Now halfway through the bracket for the singles and doubles of Division I and II, these are the players still serving for a championship.
After not winning a single championship in last year's tournament, the locals have strength in numbers remaining, especially in the Division I singles tournament.
Of the four competitors that advanced to the semifinals in Division I singles, three are from the same Cincinnati conference. Representing the Greater Miami Conference, Sycamore's Chad Miller and Nicholas Choo and Mason's Vignesh Gogineni each won their first two matches, reaching the semifinals. Brandon Carpico of Gahanna Lincoln rounded out the final four by beating each of Springboro's Dore brothers in his matches.
Miller rode a 6-1, 6-0 win and a 6-3, 6-0 win to reach the second day and the district champion will meet Carpico, the defending state champion, in the semifinals. A win for Miller could mean an all-Sycamore final or a rematch of the district final with Gogineni.
The patch for Gogineni came from a 6-0, 6-0 sweep and a 6-1, 6-0 near-sweep. Choo, the fifth of five southwest representatives, upset northeast champion Alvin Altman of Massillon Jackson 6-0, 6-4 before a 6-0, 6-2 win against No. 2 seeded Ethan Samora of Upper Arlington.
The Division I beginning was a stark contrast to the singles bracket of Division II where each of the local competitors were eliminated.
Only Avi Mahajan from Seven Hills advanced out of the first round, winning his opening match easily 6-0, 6-0, before being taken down by the third-place finisher from the northeast, Chagrin Falls' Andrew Zimcosky. Mahajan was the southwest champion.
Indian Hill sophomore Ethan Camp and Mariemont junior Will Stephens were both taken out in the first round.
Each doubles division has a pair of Cincinnati squads remaining.
An all-local semifinal was clinched in Division II. Seven Hills' duo of John Corbett and Ethan Blatt and the Indian Hill pair R.J. Poffenberger and Tejas Pisati will play with the winner heading to the state final.
A second Indian Hill pair, Max Berghausen and Michael Ryu, were eliminated in the second round.
The doubles of Division I had four local pairs, but only two could win both of the day's matches.
St. Xavier's Drew Evans and Tucker Berry won the opening match, but fell in the second. Mason's Vamshi Singidi and Aron Dornhecker dropped the opener.
District champs Anish Gangavaram and Akshay Joshi of Mason advanced as did Sycamore's Nick Meyers and Mark Karev. Both of those groups met in the southwest district finals and if a rematch comes, it'll come in a match for the state title.
Semifinal matches began at 9 a.m. at the Lindner Family Tennis Center with finals matches to follow.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Which boys tennis players advanced to the OHSAA state semifinals?
