DORCHESTER – Ryan Berns was forced to leave his teammates. It was only a temporary separation, but that didn’t make it any easier.
The senior suffered a concussion early in the regular season and wasn’t available to return until a match on May 7. While he sat thinking about what he missed most, one fellow competitor often came to mind.
He longed to play alongside Alexander Fine.
They had only just recently established a rapport – Fine being a freshman – but Berns could sense they would be a dangerous duo.
Thursday, the two built upon their unbeaten reputation.
Opening the postseason with authority, No. 7 Boston College High School boys’ tennis (13-4) flew past No. 26 North Andover (11-3) with a 5-0 sweep at the BC High Tennis Courts in the MIAA Division I state tournament’s Round of 32.
The Eagles didn’t drop more than two games in any of their five straight-sets victories, needing under an hour to advance.
“We wanted to play like we were playing a higher-seeded team,” Berns said. “Don’t be too cocky out there – just get it done. Play how we’re supposed to be playing.”
BC High boys’ tennis breaks its prematch huddle.Jack Nelson
It was a display of dominance from the jump. The hosts outscored the visitors by a combined 30-4 in first-set action, with some only needing around 20 minutes to snag their opening frames.
Chris Curran spearheaded the sprint.
The senior submitted a double bagel – 6-0, 6-0 – in a hurry against Weber Li at second singles. Leveraging his shot-making skills when needed, he happily sat back and let his opponent rack up double faults and unforced errors.
Berns and Fine followed suit, but with a talent gap decidedly in their favor, they weren’t necessarily able to impose their brand of tennis.
“It’s hard to get a rhythm when those points are so short. The groundstrokes, for me at least, feel kind of cold,” Berns said. “Rhythm helps with the serving and the volleying and playing to poach.”
The scorecard never reflected a struggle. Rather, the top tandem assembled a 6-0, 6-0 showing of their own to put BC High on the cusp of an extended season.
In their one and only year together, Berns and Fine have challenged some of the state’s best in ways nobody else has.
They knocked off St. John’s Prep’s then-undefeated duo of senior Luke Prokopis and junior Boris Kouzminov in straight sets 10 days ago. Just last Wednesday, the two became the first doubles team this season to take a set off of Brookline seniors Kiran and Ravin Bhatia.
The pair of Eagles continue to make noise. And it hasn’t taken them long to do so.
“We want the same thing out of this season. We have similar goals,” Fine said. “And another thing is our chemistry, our energy. We’re super close with each other on the court and off the court.”
Berns and Fine prepare to return serve.Jack Nelson
Berns and Fine have the ability to overpower opponents, out-think them or both. They differ in height, but their respective skills are complementary.
Together, they’ve proved unsolvable for every foe that’s faced them this spring.
“It’s nice company because Ryan’s a power player with a big serve and Alex, even though he doesn’t have as big of a serve as Ryan, is a very consistent server,” said coach Lance Hutchinson. “It’s not always (about) how hard you serve in doubles. It’s consistency.”
Seniors Danny and Ollie Fearing ensured the end of the Scarlet Knights’ season with their 6-1, 6-0 result at second doubles.
From there, sophomores Darian Nasseh and Andrew Garofoli only extended the drubbing.
Andrew Garofoli goes into his backswing before a forehand return at first singles.Jack Nelson
Nasseh solved Max Polonsky with little issue in a 6-1, 6-0 victory at third singles. Garofoli – after a long changeover between sets – polished off the Eagles’ day in 6-2, 6-0 fashion over Keshav Mahadevan at the top court.
Collectively, the team allowed zero games across all five final frames.
Thursday’s wire-to-wire effort earns BC High another meeting with No. 10 Winchester, who it clashed with in last year’s tournament – also in the Round of 16.
The squad didn’t have Berns and Fine in the fold for that battle, but did twice this regular season against the Red and Black. The Eagle duo emerged victorious on both occasions.
Winning is just something they do.
“I’ve never had a better partner,” Berns said. “We’re really good right now, and I could only imagine how good we would be if we had that month to play with each other before.”
