By Tim Wester
Union Grove singles tennis player Jacob Genal was perhaps the forgotten man in the Southern Lakes Conference boys tennis tournament.
But after a brilliant display of tennis, the unseeded Genal made sure his opponents left the tournament muttering his name in frustration.
Genal knocked off the top seed and second seed in consecutive matches on his way to winning the number two singles championship Saturday, May 14 at Waterford High School.
Genal’s inspired effort helped Union Grove finish sixth in the tournament, one spot better than their regular season seventh place finish.
“It was the first time ever in my coaching career that I’ve seen an unseeded kid win the conference tournament at any position,” Union Grove coach Mike Brannen said. “Jacob was just very patient and made guys miss shots, and it all paid off in the end.”
Genal, who is a classic defensive tennis player, chased down shot after shot and created many un-forced errors from his opponents. Genal’s best work came in the semifinal and final matches where his feisty game yielded victories over the top seed from Waterford and the second seed from Lake Geneva.
“Jacob is not a flashy player, but just played really solid tennis and played good defense and it just paid off,” Brannen said. “If he would have played those guys ten times he would lose nine times. But the one time was the day he played his best, which is all that mattered.”
Alec Dam also pulled off a memorable day of his own.
After losing 6-1 in the first set, Dam found himself nearing elimination against Westosha Central, down 3-0 in the second set.
Dam, however, quickly turned things around, winning six of the next seven games in the set, en route to a 6-4 second set victory. Dam then made easy work of his opponent in the third set and won 6-2 for the match victory.
“They guy was rolling and I told Alec to be patient and then he won four games in a roll to go up 4-3 and then win 6-4 before winning the third set,” Brannen said. “Guys can play really well for a certain period of time, but at some point is going to stat missing shots. Alex had one of the best comebacks I’ve seen.”
Although there were no comeback stories in the doubles ranks for Union Grove, Brannen was impressed with the effort his players gave.
The Broncos’ No. 1 doubles team of CJ Mauer and Austin Westberg finished fifth overall by virtue of knocking off Wilmot in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Union Grove also finished fifth at No. 2 doubles. The tandem of Josh Allain and Ja-cob Lindor also knocked off their Wilmot counterparts 6-2, 7-5 en route to the fifth place finish.
“I have the old philosophy of its not how you start, but how you finish,” Brannen said. “And we proved to finish better than we started in the regular season.”
The Broncos were unable to ride their new momentum into their nonconference match with East Troy on Monday, May 16.
The talented Trojans dominated play on their way to winning 5-2.
Dam and number four freshman singles player Finn Hourigan led the way for Union Grove with victories.
“I was pleased to see Finn get the victory,” Brannen said. “He is just a freshman, so it’s good to see him move along and improve this season.”
Union Grove looks to keep improving into the postseason when it participates in the Mukwonago Subsectional.
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