Austin Brooks got his second wind when he needed it.

Brooks, the Cypress Creek standout, was trailing to Memorial’s Jonathan Chang in the beginning of the boys singles championship at the Region III-5A tennis meet Wednesday at Deer Park.

But the senior got some great shots midway through the second set and rallied for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win to for the regional championship.

“I was just getting killed in the first set, and I changed it up by hitting some deep shots and it really made a difference for me,” said Brooks, who is going to Michigan State in the fall. “I stayed focused in the end. I was playing really smart from the second set on.”

This will be Brooks’ first trip to Austin for the state tournament, and he hopes to make an impact there next week.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “I want to get there as soon as I can.”

Brooks also looked sharp in his semifinal win against Westside’s Jose Martinez, winning 6-0, 7-5 and looking strong all through the tournament.

“I definitely had my ups and downs, but I had more ups than downs,” Brooks said. “It was just a solid tournament. I kept my strokes together and I never gave up.”

Despite the loss, Chang also qualified for the state tournament thanks to his 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 semifinal win over Beau Bernstein from Fort Bend Austin earlier in the day. Bernstein beat Martinez 6-1, 6-3 to pick up third place in the regional.

Meanwhile, the Katy Taylor duo of Tim Kuo and John Kim were 0-for-3 against the rival Cinco Ranch team of Sam Barnes and Alex Ishikawa this season, but it turned out that the fourth time was the charm.

Kuo and Kim, the fourth-seeded boys double team in regionals, fought hard and won a close 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4 win over the third-seeded Cougar duo to win the regional title after losing two matches in other tournaments and again in the District 18-5A meet.

“Cinco were the ones that were solid, so we had to step it up,” Taylor coach Kirk Kniffen said. “We got a little bit on our heels in that second set, but they stepped it up in that third set. They did a good job.”

The Taylor duo also upset the top-seeded Clear Lake team of Robert Voss and Chris Hoffman 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the final. Voss and Hoffman bounced back and beat the Austin team of Ambrish Vasudevan and Shariq Khan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 in the third-place match. They will face Barnes and Ishikawa at 3:30 p.m. Thursday for another spot in the state tournament.

Subscribe to this comment's feed