PORTLAND – There were no cramps this time around. No mounds of ice calmed his swelling knees, and the beads of sweat seemed to slow to a mere trickle much more quickly than last weekend.
Justin Chaffee won last week against the odds. Playing one of the top four seeds, he proved equal to the task and advanced to Thursday’s final four of the state singles tournament.
The euphoria from the upset lasted a mere five days, however, as Ian Robinson of Brewer sent Chaffee packing in quick fashion Thursday. Robinson took little more than an hour to defeat Chaffee 6-0, 6-1 in one of two semifinal matches at Waynflete School, using his command of a severe topspin forehand and accurate groundstrokes to dismantle the Fryeburg senior.
“He had an answer for everything,” said Chaffee. “Everything I tried, he sent back at me. It was hard to tell what he was going to do next.”
The hardest thing about Robinson, according to Chaffee, was his serve.
“He comes from the left, and that’s the first thing that’s different,” said Chaffee. “But it was always near the corners and spinning. It’s harder to return serves with a lot of spin.”
Robinson’s opponent in the final match was as much a surprise as his opponent in the semifinal.
Sophomore Garrett Currier of Cape Elizabeth continued the strong Capers tradition in the state singles tournament, upsetting No. 1 seed and defending champion Pat Conway of Deering 6-2, 7-6 (1).
“I was nervous going into it for sure,” said Currier. “He doesn’t overpower you as much as he does outthink you most of the time from what I had seen, so I tried to force him into some shots and get him to try and hit the ball hard.”
The match against Robinson was a whole different story, however. After staying close for a set, Currier wilted in the late-day humidity and dropped the final 7-5, 6-1.
“I was up a couple of breaks early and then I relaxed a bit too much,” said Robinson. “He took advantage of whatever I gave him out there. There were no easy points.”
Sweet repeat
Fans of No. 1 seed Erin Moakler held their collective breath when No. 5 Tracy Nale of Waterville took the first game from the defending champion with relative ease. It was, unfortunately for Nale, just an aberration.
Moakler recovered to win 12 of the next 14 games to take the first girls’ semifinal, 6-2, 6-1.
“I knew I had to get out and start well,” said Nale, who will attend Colby College next fall. “I started to try and play her game, though, and that threw me right off.”
In the second girls’ semifinal, the slugfest between No. 2 seed Kelly Graham of Kennebunk and No. 3 Laura Stein of Camden Hills never materialized. Graham jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and cruised from there, outdistancing Stein 6-1, 6-1 to reach her third consecutive singles final.
It looked as though Graham would cruise to her second title in three years after the senior took a 5-1 lead in the first set against Moakler.
“I don’t know what it is, but I always seem to start slowly,” said Moakler. “I was really scared that I wasn’t going to be able to come back.”
Come back she did, though. Moakler rallied to win the first set 7-6 with a 7-0 tiebreaker, and then outlegged Graham, who was suffering from shin splints, 6-2, in the second.
It was the second consecutive title for the senior from Greater Houlton Christian Academy, and her second in a row over Graham. Last year’s meeting went three sets.
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