Doubles victories push Quincy tennis team to USTA men’s 3.5 state championship

GLENVIEW, Ill. — The situation was cut and dry.

For the Quincy Men’s 3.5 USTA tennis team to win the state championship, it had to beat the Chicago Midtown Athletic Club. Lose the match, lose the tiebreaker and lose the title.

None of those three things happened.

Rob Hernandez and Troy Fox won their No. 3 doubles match 6-2, 6-3 for the clinching point in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago district representative, giving the Quincy squad a sweep of its duals and the state championship last Sunday. Quincy also defeated the Northern district representative from Naperville 3-2.

The championship qualifies Quincy to play in the USTA sectional tournament in Indianapolis on August 18-20. The field includes the state champions from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin playing a round-robin format. The sectional champion advances to the national tournament in late September.

At the round-robin state tournament, Naperville opened with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Midtown Athletic Club before losing to Quincy 3-2.

Against Naperville, Quincy won the two singles matches with Rick Crider scoring a 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 victory at No. 1 and Joe Laws winning 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2. The No. 2 doubles team of Bryan Fasano and Fox won 7-5, 6-1 to secure the team victory.

Against the Chicago Midtown Athletic Club, Quincy split the singles matches. Sammy Shumake won the No. 2 singles match 6-4, 6-2. Fasano and Laws won the No. 2 doubles match in come-from-behind fashion with a 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 victory. That set up Hernandez and Fox to finish it off.