5A state boys tennis: Cherry Creek, Valor Christian tied for team lead after Day 1

DENVER ­– The opening day of this year’s Class 5A boys tennis state championships began and ended with players competing at three different sites in order to avoid a nasty afternoon weather forecast that proved to be accurate.

Knowing the teams would be spread around the southern Denver area, Art Quinn, head coach of defending champion Cherry Creek, told his players to prepare as they would normally. He told them the only difference on Thursday would be their annual morning meeting would adjourn with them hopping in their cars to drive to different places.

When the Bruins reconvened in the afternoon, Colorado’s all-time boys tennis team championship leaders with 43 overall found themselves in a tie with Valor Christian for the first-day lead and right back in the hunt for another title. The 2021 state tournament may have looked different – split between Gates Tennis Center, Denver South High School and Denver Tennis Center – but the Bruins’ approach hasn’t changed a bit.

“I thought that all teams and all players were very professional about what they were doing, executing at different sites,” Quinn said. “Certainly, having to split your forces, your coaches, your tents, your coolers, your parents, there’s logistics. I thought our team came out focused and ready to play. Even with their minds on their other teammates at the other sites, they were able to stay focused and keep their energy with them.”

Both Cherry Creek and Valor Christian finished the opening day with 17 team points and will arrive back and Gates Tennis Center, the lone site for the final two days, with semifinalists in each of the seven brackets. They will meet head-to-head at No. 1 singles, where Cherry Creek junior Aram Izmirian, last year’s runner-up at No. 3 singles, and Valor Christian junior Christian Trevey, who finished top four at No. 2 singles in 2020, will clash at 9 a.m. in a critical match.

Fossil Ridge will enter Day 2 in third place in the team standings, just four points behind the leaders. The Sabercats advanced to the semifinals at five of the seven positions.

After finishing runner-up just four points behind Cherry Creek in 2020, Regis Jesuit is currently in fourth place and six points out of first with four positions still alive in their respective championship brackets. Denver East is fifth with nine points. Ralston Valley and Monarch are tied in sixth with five points in front of a five-way tie for seventh place.

Championship semifinals at all positions will begin at 9 a.m. at Gates Tennis Center, followed by playback matches.