Clippers sail over Griffins in straight sets
After surrendering an early game to the Griffins the Clippers number one doubles team of Alex Grubin and Andrey Boldarev stepped their game up a notch. The Griffins almost broke the Clippers serve on more than one occasion. Grubin and Boldarev finished out the match with a couple of aces and then in the last game broke the Griffins serve to win the match 8-1.
Number two doubles team of Tamas Dobrotka and Andreas Lindell played well from the very beginning. After going up 3-2 to start their doubles match Dobrotka and Lindell played well as they pulled shots and hit angles that the Griffins could not get to. Dobrotka and Lindell finished the Griffins off with an 8-2 victory.
Felix Missal and Raphael Namias, at number three doubles spot, started off the game with a four point win. After going up 3-0 Missal and Namias put themselves on cruise control. With several winners and great hustle Missal and Namias dominated their match and won with an 8-0 score.
As the Clippers were up 3-0 after the doubles set, the singles matches were up next.
Alex Grubin, playing in the top spot (#1), started off his first
set as he went up 3-0 over his opponent. Hitting tough angles
and finding winners left and right Grubin continued to play
well. After serving up several aces with speeds over 100mph
Grubin hit his stride on the court. Grubin finished out his
set without letting a game go past him as he won 6-0. Moving
into his second set Grubin was moving up to net and pulling passing
shots on his Griffin opponent. Grabbing a few more aces on
his fast paced serve Grubin continued to move along. As the
match came to a close Grubin continued his dominant presence and
closed his match out in straight sets with a 6-1 second set
win.
Tamas Dobrotka serving well started his first set with several aces and winners to go up 3-0 to start. Dobrotka continued to dominate through his first set not surrendering a game and moved on to his second set. As Dobrotka served well throughout his match as he moved point by point closer to finishing. With overhead winners and drop shots Dobrotka gave up just one game in his second set on his way to a straight set victory.
Andrey Boldarev started his first set off with grabbing a couple
of wins. With coming up on top Boldarev turned to a different
gear and completed his first set in less than 20 minutes.
With a killer mentality on the court Boldarev completed his first
set with a 6-0 victory. Continuing with his play Boldarev
went on into his second set without a blink. Boldarev pulling
out all the stops as he hit his way forcing errors and nabbing
winners through each of his games. Boldarev surrendered one
game in the second set as his Griffins opponent caught a small
second wind. In the end Boldarev completed his match with a
6-1 second set victory.
With shots down the line Andreas Lindell was hitting winners to control his match. After going up to net several times through the first set and able to hit several overheads to gain points Lindell was on the road of domination. Lindell forced several errors on the Griffins side of the court and went up 5-0 in the first set. With one more game under his belt Lindell took the first set 6-0. Lindell then repeated his first set performance in the second set pulling out all the stops with aces, winners and forcing errors. Lindell pulled another 6-0 set and won his match in straight sets in just about a half of an hour.
Shaolin Chandam, playing at the number five spot, went up on his Griffin opponent from the start as he went up 3-0 in the first set. Playing well Chandam did not let a service game get away and was able to break his opponent three times and clear the set 6-0. Going into the second set Chandam continued to play well. As he stayed back around the baseline of the court Chandam surrendered two games in his second set as he went on to win his singles match in straight sets; 6-0; 6-2.
Dane Ostilly, playing on the last court, struggled as his
aggressiveness occasionally got the better of him. Ostilly
moved ahead and was able to break his Griffin opponents serve a
couple of times and came away with a first set win of 6-2.
With his forehand, Ostilly hit his way through his second
set. Adding in a powerful serve Ostilly surrendered two more
game through the match as he was to serve out the match. With
the first three points won Ostilly struggled and as deuce point was
there the next point would determine the game winner and possibly
the match winner. Ostilly ripped a forehand winner to grab
the game, the set and the match.
The Clippers swept the Griffins in just under two hours of playing. The Clippers will head to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia on Tuesday, April 6th.
