Garden City's Angelina Bravo wins Nassau singles title, Great Neck South's Gabrielle Villegas, Madison Lee capture doubles crown
Angelina Bravo of Garden City reacts after winning the singles final in the Nassau girls tennis individual championships and state qualifier at Eisenhower Park on Sunday. Credit: James Escher
Garden City sophomore Angelina Bravo wasn’t even sure if she’d play high school tennis this year. Great Neck South seventh grader Gabrielle Villegas was thrilled she finally reached the age where she’d get the chance. On Sunday, both became Nassau County champions at Eisenhower Park in the Section VIII girls tennis individual championships.
Bravo’s 6-4, 6-0 win over Mepham senior Alex Raikos in the singles title match gives her two county titles in as many years of high school tennis. As freshman and first-year member of the Trojans, she teamed with Kayle Castellano to with the county doubles title a year ago.
“Last year helped me realize that I can win even though I’m younger,” Bravo said. “I can compete to these other girls’ level really well.”
Though just 5-feet tall, Bravo has a powerful serve and ground strokes and used them to win four matches in eight sets over two days while only dropping 18 games (4.5 per match). She defeated top-seeded Angel Walia of Herricks, 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinal.
Raikos finally broke through to reach the county final after four consecutive quarterfinal exits when she outlasted Roslyn senior Anika Tolat for a 7-6 (6), 6-4 win in a hotly-contested semifinal filled with long points. However, Bravo kept her racing from side to side with high-paced shots and occasionally flummoxed her with well-time drop shots in the title match.
“[Raikos] is one of the most consistent players in this tournament, which is the key to winning,” Bravo said. “If you push them side-to-side, they are eventually going to hit one short because you are dictating the point.”
Bravo, Raikos and Walia — who won the third-place match when a sore elbow forced Tolat to retire after two games — will represent Nassau in the NYSPHSAA Individual Championships at the National Tennis Center in Queens Oct. 28-30.
“I’m a senior and making the state tournament was a big goal,” Raikos said. “I’m super excited I am finally getting to go.”
Villegas surprised many when she was installed at the top of the Great Neck South team lineup, edging out junior Madison Lee, who has been the Rebels’ standard-setter for several years. But the two of them decided to team up in doubles for the county tournament and proved an unbeatable duo winning five matches — all in straight sets — over two days while dropping a total of only 15 games. They defeated Hannah Wang and Elaine Liu of Syosset, 6-1, 6-4 in a semifinal and then topped Roslyn senior Alex Krol and sophomore Chloe Gross, 6-3, 6-2, for the doubles championship.
Madison Lee of Great Neck South, right, celebrates with teammate Gabrielle Villegas after a point in the doubles final of the Nassau girls tennis individual championships and state qualifier at Eisenhower Park on Sunday. Credit: James Escher
Asked how the pairing came together, Lee said, “We felt like with her aggressive style at the net and my baseline game, we could be a good team. And we have a lot of fun playing together.”
“[Lee] hits a heavy ball that gives me the opportunity to poach,” Villegas said. “I love playing with Madison.”
Port Washington senior Catherine Karman, a lacrosse star who accepted a scholarship to Viriginia Tech and decided it would be fun to play tennis in her final school year, was teamed with sophomore Evie Loewy. They lost their semifinal to Krol and Gross, but won the third-place match to advance to the state tournament. They will join the Great Neck South and Roslyn teams to represent Nassau.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.