Francesco Tartaglia fought back from a loss in the first set to defeat his Saugus rival and give the Revere High boys tennis team a 3-2 win over Saugus on Thursday.
“Francesco’s match was the deciding contest,†aid RHS head coach Mike Flynn. “He fought hard after losing his first set, but came back in a big way when the match was on the line.â€
Tartaglia’s final winning score was 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the second singles slot. Richie Bonilla triumphed in straight sets at first singles, 6-3, 6-0, and Malak Mossadek similarly won in straight sets at third singles, 6-0, 6-3.
The doubles tandems of Nick Mucci and Mladen Pepic at first doubles fell by a score of 0-6, 0-6 and the second duo of Pariwat Chuiwong and Tim Mellen fell by a margin of 2-6, 3-6.
Although the Patriots dropped their other two matches last week against NEC rivals Winthrop and Danvers by 4-1 scores, Flynn saw a lot of positive signs in his team’s performance.
Mossadek was the winner for Revere in the Winthrop match, outlasting his counterpart at second singles in a grueling three hour match, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Tartaglia played well at No. 1 before succumbing 6-7 (5-7), 2-6 to his Viking foe. Bonilla picked up the point against Danvers with a win at third singles, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
“Malak played amazingly in his win at Winthrop,†lauded Flynn. “He showed a lot of poise. I was very proud of the way he played, as I was of Richie in his win against Danvers.
“Overall the team is really improving with every match,†added the coach. “I’m very optimistic about this team both now and in the future.â€
Flynn and his crew were set to face the iron of the NEC this week, with matches scheduled against Marblehead this past Monday, Swampscott today (Wednesday), and Salem on Thursday. The boys will take on Lynn Classical next Monday and Beverly next Wednesday.
