Perfect Match

Boyer and Kirby capture state doubles crown

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 5/24/16

Eight years. Prior to Sunday, that's how long it had been since a pairing not from South Kingstown had won the RIIL tennis doubles state title. Hendricken seniors Alexander Boyer and Christian Kirby brought that streak to a

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Perfect Match

Boyer and Kirby capture state doubles crown

Posted

Eight years. Prior to Sunday, that’s how long it had been since a pairing not from South Kingstown had won the RIIL tennis doubles state title.

Hendricken seniors Alexander Boyer and Christian Kirby brought that streak to a screeching halt at Slater Park on Sunday.

After upsetting top-seeded South Kingstown 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 on Saturday in the semifinals, Boyer and Kirby put themselves in prime position to capture the state championship.

And they did just that – rolling to a straight sets, 6-1, 6-0 victory over Wheeler’s Peter Pond and Simon Redfern.

After a season that certainly featured more ups than downs for the duo, it emerged as the top team out of the 16-team bracket over the weekend.

“It feels amazing,” Boyer said. “It was a battle the entire time. Every match we had to work hard for, and we couldn’t let up at all. I’m just so proud of Kirby right here, he worked so hard and kept us going.”

“We came into this tournament as underdogs,” Kirby said. “It’s definitely sweet to win this thing, and I couldn’t be more excited for it.”

Hendricken coach Stephen Crawford deemed Boyer and Kirby a “perfect match.” Interestingly, Boyer’s twin brother, Geoffrey Boyer, played on Hendricken’s No. 2 doubles team with a different partner.

On paper, one would assume that the twin brothers would make a perfect doubles team.

But there was just something about Kirby and Boyer that worked. They complemented each other’s personality and style of play to perfection.

“Christian has a steadiness to him that’s complimented by Alexander, who is much more of a personality,” Crawford said. “You had the steadiness of Kirby and the winners from Alexander. Boyer has more winners. At the end of a match, statistically, [Boyer] always hits more winners, but Kirby sets him up and sets him up. They’re a perfect match. That’s what it is.”

The first-year partners defeated Middletown/Rogers 6-2, 6-0 on Friday in the first round, and would hand the same margin of defeat, 6-0, 6-2 to La Salle in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning.

That set up what was essentially the title match against South Kingstown’s Jon Bento and Steven Josephson, the No. 1 seed, in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon.

The Rebels’ duo came out strong, taking a 5-2 lead in the first set, before Boyer and Kirby responded by winning four unanswered games to take a 6-5 lead.

Bento and Josephson forced a tiebreak, but Hendricken glided to take the tiebreak in emphatic fashion, earning an improbable 1-0 lead in the match.

That was undoubtedly a turning point on Boyer and Kirby’s road to the state title.

“I don’t know,” Boyer said with a laugh when asked where the will to come back in that match came from. “We somehow got a bunch of games back in a row.”

“We just have a ton of fight in us,” Kirby responded in regard to the same question. “You can’t underestimate that when it comes to tournaments like this.”

South Kingstown battled back to take the second set in a tiebreak, but Hendricken would coast to a 6-1 victory in a decisive third set.

“After beating SK [Saturday], that was the pinnacle of this tournament,” Boyer said. “After that, I was so psyched. I was ready to come in [Sunday] and fight the entire time.”

Boyer and Kirby would carry that momentum into championship Sunday.

The Hawks didn’t waste any time, as Boyer held serve to start the match to take a 1-0 lead in the opening set.

Boyer and Kirby then broke Pond’s serve, and Kirby held his to take a 3-0 advantage.

Pond would hold with the score at 5-0 in the first set to avoid getting shut out completely, but Kirby held without breaking a sweat to earn the Hawks a 6-1 win in set No. 1.

The momentum never turned in set No. 2, either.

Boyer and Kirby never gave Pond and Redfern a glimmer of hope in a 6-0 victory in set two to clinch the crown.

“I’ve had a ton of doubles partners, but no one’s quite like Christian,” Boyer said.

“I’ve loved playing with Alex, every single second of it, it’s been awesome,” Kirby said.

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