Charlie Adams and Kavir Kumar are both sophomores at Blake, talented singles players who led the Bears to the Class 1A team championship on Wednesday. "We play all the time, in practice and outside of practice," Kumar said. "We're good friends."
Except for a three-hour stretch Friday afternoon at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in south Minnepeaolis. Adams, the No. 1 seed, and Kumar, the No. 3 seed, met for the Class 1A singles title in a rematch of the Section 4 final, which Adams won convincingly.
"Yeah, we're friends," said Adams before the match. "But today, on the court, we're enemies."
The match was far closer than their previous meeting but the outcome was the same, with Adams winning in three sets, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5.
Adams controlled the first set but ran into trouble thereafter when Kumar ''started becoming more consistent and started getting to a lot of balls," Adams said. In the third set, "we were both dead tired," Adams said. "I was cramping, he was cramping. Neither one of us could hold serve."
Adams won with an aggressive approach, putting the pain aside. "I started controlling the points," he said. "This is the biggest thing in tennis for me. It's by far the most fun season I've ever had playing tennis."
Despite the defeat, Kumar was pleased with what was his final match at Blake and his Minnesota high school career. His family is moving to Charlotte, N.C.
Blake also won the doubles championship, with senior Kai Skallerud and junior Taylor Parr beating Breck's Brenham Wong and David Alper 6-2, 6-4 in the finals.
