An Eclectic Group Of Individual State Singles Champions Thursday

May 8—There was a repeat state champion. There was a tremendous comeback story. One school produced a state champion for the first time.

The state singles tennis championship matches Thursday at the Jerry Cline courts offered quite a variety.

A freshman, Savannah Reiman, gave Organ Mountain its first ever tennis champion in singles or doubles. A sophomore, Ketan Garg of La Cueva, who missed all of last season with a major shoulder injury, was enormously resilient as he, like Reiman, won a Class 5A title. Avery Williams, a senior from Goddard, went back-to-back in Class 1A-4A girls.

And then there was the taut drama in Class 1A-4A boys, by far the craziest and most memorable of the four singles finals Thursday.

The champion was Albuquerque Academy's Austin Curtis, the No. 2 seed. The scores were 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 over No. 1 Henry Kaufman of Santa Fe Prep. This is the bare bones recap.

But there was so much more than that.

"Almost a one in a million match," Curtis said. "Never ever played a match like that before in my life."

Curtis overcame a first set in which Kaufman asserted himself. And he had to overcome being down love-40 on his serve to open the second set. That steadied him and he eventually squared the match and forced a third and deciding set.

Curtis, after breaking serve, was leading the third set 5-4, 30-love when he fell to the court with a major cramp on his right leg. This was the second injury timeout for him in the match, and there was a discussion amongst officials about whether he was entitled to a second injury timeout in the same match. He was, if the two injuries were unrelated he was, came the reply argument from Academy.

Curtis continued in the match but lost the game, which included him attempting an underhand serve. And there was concern in his head about whether he'd even be able to finish.

"Yes, I was concerned," he said. "If they (the cramps) came back, I wouldn't have been ab le to finish the match."

And just minutes later, Kaufman himself fell to the ground in pain, suffering two leg cramps himself.

Longtime friends were nearly three hours into their championship match, and the medical questions — the athletic trainers on site were quite busy — created incredible drama.

When it was over, the friends shared a long hug. They have been playing one another for many years.

"We embraced for a while. We were just telling each other how much we loved each other and how much of a battle it was. ... He's gotten the best of me the last four times we played, it feels so nice to be able to prevail."

An interesting tidbit: Curtis and Kaufman both have been working as interns writing sports for newspapers — Curtis for the Journal, Kaufman for the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Garg of La Cueva completed a redemption of sorts Thursday. Playing just a few feet away from Kaufman and Curtis, he and Albuquerque High's Mitchell Rocca slugged it out for nearly three hours themselves.

Garg, the No. 1 seed, overcame losing the first set 6-2, and later he was down 5-4 in the third set with second-seeded Rocca looking to serve it out.

But Garg broke serve, won the final three games, and he celebrated a tense 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win.

Garg in December 2023 went on the shelf with a shoulder injury. He didn't have a racket in his hands for about 14 months, he said. He returned just prior to the start of this season.

"I'm back," he said with a smile.

At one point, he was down a set, down 4-2 im the second set and down 30-40 in that game with Rocca very close to finishing the match.

"I just really took it point by point, stayed calm and resilient," Garg said. "I was getting really tight in my legs and I was trying to put it all out on the court, because I really wanted that state (championship)."

And he was feeling grateful for the day, and this chance.

"It's amazing," he said. "I'm so blessed to even be able to stand on the court."

The two girls champions both were equally overwhelming to their competition.

Each lost just 10 games in four victories over the two days of state.

Williams, the top seed, rolled 6-3, 6-3 over third-seeded Nishta Koli of Academy.

The 5A girls final was an all-freshmen battle between Reiman and Cleveland's top-seeded Lily Walker. Second-seeded Reiman' power and polish led the way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

"I just kind of had, like, a genuine feeling that I would do good, and that helped push me through," Reiman said. "When I think I'm gonna win, I feel confident in myself and I come in prepared."

As for making history, she was clearly aware of its importance.

"I'm really excited for Organ Mountain," Reiman said. "That's a big deal. I'm the first in history, and I feel like that's a memorable experience."