Second-seeded Patrick Tan of SHAPE returns a shot from Patch's Ajdin Tahirovic, the top seed, during the boys singles final. Tahirovic won the match 6-1, 6-2. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Second-seeded Patrick Tan of SHAPE returns a shot from Patch's Ajdin Tahirovic, the top seed, during the boys singles final. Tahirovic won the match 6-1, 6-2. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount's Ginevra Bolla tries to reach a Paige Chase shot in the girls single final. Chase, the third seed, upset top-seeded Bolla, the two-time defending champ, 6-2, 6-4. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Heidelberg's Jack Kolodziejski slaps back a ball at the net against SHAPE's Aaron Yip. Kolodziejski and partner Darien Ward, the tourney's top seed, defeated unseeded Yip and Alvaro Sanchez 6-4, 7-5 to win the boys doubles title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Heidelberg's Darien Ward returns a shot in the boys doubles final. Ward and teammate Jack Kolodziejski defeated Aaron Yip and Alvaro Sanchez of SHAPE 6-4, 7-5. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
SHAPE's Aaron Yip, left, gets a ball past Heidelberg's Darien Ward in the boys doubles final. Ward and partner Jack Kolodziejski beat Yip and Alvaro Sanchez 6-4, 7-5. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH's Taylor BonenClark returns a shot in the girls doubles final. BonenClark and teammate Stephanie Seitz defeated defending champions Meghan Augsburger and Olivia Rockwell 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH's Stephanie Seitz returns a shot in the girls doubles final. Seitz and teamate Taylor BonenClark defeated defending champions Meghan Augsburger and Olivia Rockwell 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Meghan Augsburger returns a shot in the girls doubles final against Taylor BonenClark and Stephanie Seitz. Augsburger and teammate Olivia Rockwell, the defending champions lost the match 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 4-6. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Olivia Rockwell returns a shot at the net in the girls doubles final against Taylor BonenClark and Stephanie Seitz. Rockwell and teammate Meghan Augsburger, the defending champions, lost the title match 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 4-6. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Top-seeded Jack Kolodziejski, left, and Darien Ward of Heidelberg celebrate winning the boys doubles title at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germay, on Saturday. The pair defeated Alvaro Sanchez and Aaron Yip of SHAPE 6-4, 7-5. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
AFNORTH's Taylor BonenClark, left, hugs teammate Stephanie Seitz after capturing the girls double title at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germay, on Saturday. The pair defeated the defending champions, Meghan Augsburger and Olivia Rockwell of Ramstein, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Patch's Ajdin Tahirovic keeps his eyes on the ball as he prepares to return a shot to Patrick Tan of ISB in the boys single final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germay, on Saturday. Top-seeded Tahirovic won 6-1, 6-2 over Tan, the tourney's second seed. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Heidelberg's Paige Chase tries to hold back tears of joy after defeating top-seeded, two-time defending champion Ginevra Bolla of Marymount 6-2, 6-4, to take the girls single title at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germay, on Saturday. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Heidelberg's Paige Chase watches her return sail over the net in the girls final at the DODDS-Europe tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germay, on Saturday. Chase, the tourney's third seed, upset the top-seeded, two-time defending champion Ginevra Bolla of Marymount 6-2, 6-4, to take the title. (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN-NORDENSTADT, Germany — There were a lot of new faces on the winners stand Saturday as the DODDS-Europe tennis championship wound up without any of the reigning champs repeating.
In the biggest upset of the day, Heidelberg’s Paige Chase fought through a relentless barrage of lobs by two-time defending champion Ginevra Bolla from Marymount International School of Rome to dethrone the top seed, 6-2, 6-4.
In the quickest match of the day, Patch freshman Ajdin Tahirovic rode a mix of power and finesse to dominate No. 2 seed Patrick Tan of the International School of Brussels, 6-1, 6-2.
In the only match to go three sets, Stephanie Seitz and Taylor BonenClark from AFNORTH regained the girls doubles title they lost last year to Olivia Rockwell and Meghan Augsburger of Ramstein, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
And in the boys doubles final, Heidelberg’s top-seeded pair of Jack Kolodziejski and Darien Ward beat the unranked SHAPE duo of Alvaro Sanchez and Aaron Yip, 6-4, 7-5.
Chase, a junior transfer from North Carolina and seeded third in her first DODDS tournament, came into Saturday’s finals beaming with confidence after knockling off second-seeded Carli Arza of the American Overseas School of Rome on Friday.
She broke serve in the first game of the match and then used her serve and forehand to run away with the opening set.
The second set went better for Bolla. She kept Chase running with lobs and cross-court shots, setting up some of the tournament’s longest volleys, while Chase stuck to a game of placement, aiming for Bolla’s weaker backhand.
Although both girls had trouble holding serve throughout the second set, when it came to the decisive game, Chase held, serving an ace for the final point. She pumped her fists and a smile emerged on a face that had beens all business the previous two hours.
“The key for me was staying in the point and not trying to kill anything,” said Chase.
As for Bolla, she said she was “happy to have made the finals…. I’ll try again next year.”
She won’t however, have the chance for a rematch with Chase, because the junior, who is staying with her aunt in Germany this year, plans to go back to the States next year for school.
In the boys final, every aspect of top-seeded Tahirovic’s game was in synch, with his fiery forehand shots deep into the back of the court often unreturnable.
“I’m an all-around player, but mostly focused on hitting the balls deep,” said Tahirovic. “It feels amazing as a freshman to win Europeans, it’s a perfect start to my high school years,”
Tan was able to get in some good rallies, but in the second set a pulled groin started to visibly alter the junior’s game.
“He deserved to win, he was definitely the better player today,” Tan said.
Last year, Rockwell and Augsburger were a pair of freshmen, seeded fifth in the tournament, when they knocked off the second-seeded duo of Seitz and BonenClark in three sets to win the title. This year Seitz and BonenClark were seeded second again, but it was their turn to pull the upset by beating the top-seeded Ramstein pair.
Rockwell and Augsburger picked up where they left off last year as they captured a hard-fought opening set.
“Our strategy changed during the game,” said BonenClark. “In the first set we weren’t having fun.”
The change of attitude and a stronger net game propelled them to victory in the next set in the tiebreaker and then the decisive third set.
“That’s what sports are about, having fun,” said Seitz.
“I just couldn’t believe it, I was happy I got to win with Stephanie,” BonenClark added.
In the boys doubles finale, Kolodziejski and Ward won by playing the match point by point. “We weren’t focusing much on the score, just focusing on getting the next point,” said Kolodziejski.
SHAPE did not go down easily and led 3-0 in the second set. The pair, who replaced the 2009 double champions of Juan De La Torre and Andrei Mavris as SHAPE representatives, relied on a steady dose of ground strokes but in the end could not handle Ward’s serve as the Heidelberg duo climbed back into the set and finished off the match.
All three division champs also went down. Heidelberg won the Division I team championship with 37 points, replacing Ramstein; AFNORTH’s 19 points were four more than defending champ AOSR in D-II; and Alconbury replaced Brussels as the D-III champs.
