ELDERSBURG — Matthew Fairchild removed his hat and made a quick move toward the net so he could meet his opponent following their boys singles championship final at the county tennis tournament.
The players shook hands, and Fairchild waited a few moments before letting out several deep breaths. Sighs of relief, it seemed, after surviving the pressure of an all-Manchester Valley title match.
Fairchild, a senior, bested teammate and fellow senior Chase Estes in straight sets Saturday afternoon at Liberty High School to capture his first county championship.
“It was hard,” Fairchild said about having to face a friend in the final. “By far and away, the best opponent I’ve had all year.”
Teammates playing each other wasn’t an odd sight at this year’s county tourney — three of the five brackets ended with championship matches between the same school.
Liberty was involved in two of those matches. Jane Aldakkour outlasted Grace Johnson for the girls singles title in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7). And the girls doubles final saw Noelle Htwar and Emily Brecker repeat as county champions by defeating Alyssa Vandenberge and Kara Bartolowits 6-2, 6-0.
The Lions won a mixed doubles county title as well, with Emily Smith and Reda Babas downing Century’s Kaitlin Conway and Michael Napolitano 6-4, 6-4.
Fairchild and Estes each cruised into the singles final with 14-0 records, after going through the regular season unblemished and earning first-round byes in the county tourney. And both players said they didn’t prepare any different for the title match despite knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses pretty well.
“We work with each other every day and make each other better,” Fairchild said. “This has been kind of the back of our minds for a while — we’re making each other better to play each other.”
Estes said the match had a different feel in competition level only, something the Liberty girls singles players also talked about. Johnson and Aldakkour had a feeling their final would be a long one, and it was — Johnson (15-1) rallied to win the first set after trailing 5-0, and the friends exchanged several lengthy rallies throughout.
Aldakkour (14-1) took a few tumbles during the match too, which explained the bag of ice taped to her knee following her victory.
“We were both happy going into it because we knew we already did well,” said Johnson, who took out top-seeded Kate Ruppert of Westminster in the semifinals to face her teammate.
“Liberty was going to win either way,” Aldakkour said.
The Lions had four different county champions Saturday.
Htwar and Brecker won their second doubles county crown in as many seasons, and the juniors improved to 15-0 this spring. And Liberty won boys doubles when Dylan Gettier and Ray Woodward (15-0) got past Century’s Danny Arriola and Nick Simon 7-5, 6-3.
Fairchild said his motivation to win stemmed from last year’s county tournament, where he reached the final only to lose in three sets. In 2017, Fairchild placed fourth, so he wanted nothing more than to highlight his senior year with a gold medal.
“After [2018] I said that this year I wanted to come back and be able to finish out what I left unfinished here,” Fairchild said. “Before the season I said that my goal was to get first in the county and then to win the county tournament.”
To which a smiling Estes added: “I had to let him do that.”
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
Boys Singles: Matthew Fairchild (MV) d. Chase Estes (MV) 6-3, 7-5
Girls Singles: Jane Aldakkour (L) d. Grace Johnson (L) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)
Boys Doubles: Dylan Gettier/Ray Woodward (L) d. Danny Arriola/Nick Simon (C) 7-5, 6-3
Girls Doubles: Noelle Htwar/Emily Brecker (L) d. Alyssa Vandenberge/Kara Bartolowits (L) 6-2, 6-0
Mixed Doubles: Emily Smith/Reda Babas (L) d. Kaitlin Conway/Michael Napolitano (C) 6-4, 6-4