By Michael Letendre

FARMINGTON – The Bristol Eastern boys tennis team finally got back on the court on Tuesday, April 13 as the Lancers opened their 2020-21 campaign against a very talented Farmington team.

The River Hawks haven’t lost a regular season match since the May 18, 2019 and that trend continued against Eastern in a CCC Interdivisional match from the Farmington high school tennis courts.

The locals battled but Farmington ended up snaring a 6-1 victory in the end.

The Lancers were swept in doubles action and dropped three of the four singles’ matches but each competitor from Eastern showed a little something on the court that afternoon.

“Overall, I thought we played very well in our opening match against a very historically strong opponent,” said Eastern tennis coach Logan Brooke.

Eastern’s lone victory came at the No. 3 singles position as junior Nathaniel Lund defeated Roshan Krishnan in straight sets (6-2, 6-4).

In the top singles match, Eastern senior Brandon Greger fell to Farmington’s Jerry Zhang (6-0, 6-1).

At the No. 2 slot, the Lancers’ Andrew Anulewicz, a very good senior, made Farmington’s Vedanish Patel work for his victory (6-4, 6-4) while the No. 4 singles bout saw Camden Michaud fall to the River Hawks’ Karthik Pyneni (6-1, 6-0).

In No. 1 doubles action, Farmington’s Abhishek Mannom and Ricky Duan defeated Eastern’s Nolan Abitabilo and Nathaniel Woodford (6-1, 6-0) but in the second doubles spot, the Lancers gave the River Hawks a real run for their money.

Eastern’s Joseph Verardi and Luke Hammer gave the team of Aditya Kumarappon and Gautham Santhanam all it could handle but the Farmington duo pulled out a tough 6-4, 7-5 win.

And in No. 3 doubles, Farmington’s Tom Kot and Richard Jiang beat Thomas Beaulieu and Christopher Brown by scores of 6-0, 6-3.

The Eastern’s boys team is home for its next three matches, starting with a non-conference showdown against Windsor Locks on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. from the tennis courts on the campus of Bristol Eastern.

Then next Monday, the Lancers host Rocky Hill while the following day, the boys squad from New Britain comes to Bristol.

Both those matches commence at 3:45 p.m.

Looking a little further down the road, Eastern tangles with Bristol Central this season on Friday, May 21.

That match takes place from the tennis courts at Bristol Central.

Bristol Eastern Boys Tennis

FARMINGTON 6, BRISTOL EASTERN 1

from the Farmington high school tennis courts – Tuesday, April 13

Singles

1. Jerry Zhang (Farmington) defeated Brandon Greger, (6-0, 6-1)

2. Vedanish Patel (Farmington) defeated Andrew Anulewicw, (6-4, 6-4)

3. Nathaniel Lund (Bristol Eastern) defeated Roshan Krishnan, (6-2, 6-4)

4. Karthik Pyneni (Farmington) defeated Camden Michaud, (6-1, 6-0)

Doubles

1. Abhishek Mannom and Ricky Duan (Farmington) defeated Nolan Abitabilo and Nathaniel Woodford, (6-1, 6-0)

2. Aditya Kumarappon and Gautham Santhanam (Farmington) defeated Joseph Verardi and Luke Hammer, (6-4, 7-5)

3. Tom Kot and Richard Jiang (Farmington) defeated Thomas Beaulieu and Christopher Brown, (6-0, 6-3)

Records: Farmington 1-0 overall, Bristol Eastern 0-1