Fairfax’s Payes Wins City Tennis Championship

Sophomore Giora Payes of Fairfax rallied from 5-4 and 5-3 deficits to win the City individual tennis championship Thursday with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Robert Vinson of Dorsey at the Racquet Centre.

Payes, the No. 3-seeded player in the City, won a 7-4 tiebreaker in the seesaw first set and followed that by winning the second-set tiebreaker, 7-5.

Although not playing his best, Payes was able to force Vinson to play the baseline, where Payes is at his best.

Both players were tentative at the outset, resulting in an error-filled first set. Vinson and Payes settled down in the second set. Vinson held leads of 3-1 and 5-3 before losing.

“I wasn’t into the match,” Payes said. “(But) I usually play best when I’m down.”

Steve Silver and Carl Peterson of University won the doubles title, defeating Ken Lynn and Greg Pitters of Taft, 6-1, 6-4. Peterson and Silver didn’t start playing doubles together until the playoffs began last week.

For Peterson, though, the win in the final was anticlimactic. He was more excited about defeating Adam Schneir and Anthony Tsunoda of City 4-A champion Palisades in the semifinals.

“This is just icing on the cake,” sophomore Peterson said. “We wanted them (Schneir-Tsunoda). He (Schneir) hit me with a ball in the season.”