Tracy Press

West’s Brett Spadoni and Tracy’s Neil Thakor take tennis championships.

Tennis players from West and Tracy high schools dominated the league championship matches Thursday and Friday. Both schools will be represented by league champions in the singles division, and West will send a doubles team to the Sac-Joaquin Section Championship next month.

Brett Spadoni, a West High senior, defeated the only player who beat him this year for the Tri-City Athletic League crown. Press file photo.

For West senior Brett Spadoni, the Tri-City Athletic League singles championship was a hard-fought match against the only player to beat him in his three years of varsity tennis.

Spadoni won the first set, 6-3, against Josh Mireles of St. Mary’s at Oak Park in Stockton, but Mireles came back in the second set to lead, 4-2. Spadoni became even more aggressive, charged the net repeatedly and took the second set, 6-4.

“I was just trying to attack his backhand, mostly,” Spadoni said. “I was just trying to keep it away from his forehand.”

They learned the strongest aspects of each others’ games during league matches — at West on April 8, when Spadoni won, and at St. Mary’s on April 17, when Mireles won. Spadoni said Friday’s match was as tough as they get.

“It was my day today,” he said. “He was playing fantastic. I was just trying to keep up with him.”

Tracy High's Neil Thakor maintained a flawless 2008 record by defeating teammate Quinn O’Brien for the San Joaquin Athletic Association championship. Press file photo.

“Neil has had the upper hand on Quinn all season, but Quinn has gotten better and better,” coach Dean Reese said.

Thakor said the match was hard-won, compared with his other matches in the tournament.

“Me and Quinn, we’ve been hitting against each other since we were freshmen,” he said. “We’ve had some close matches. I was glad I could pull this one away.”

O’Brien started the tournament as an unseeded player and beat James Ivary of Lincoln, 10-8, and John Sharp of Lodi, 6-4, 6-4. Both were the top players from their schools.

O’Brien said the difference between them and Thakor is consistency.

“My other opponents would have lapses I could take advantage of,” he said. “Neil kept putting on the pressure.”

He also acknowledged that, win or lose Friday, both knew their school would have the top player and both of them would go to sections.

Quinn O'Brien of Tracy High finished second in the SJAA after teammate Neil Thakor. Press file photo.

The two West teams faced off for the league championship in doubles after Canoy and Lewis beat the team from Edison High in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-2, and de la Cruz and Antonio beat a third team from West, Luke Creasman and Jerome Oribello, 6-2, 6-2.

Canoy and Lewis took first place after they beat de la Cruz and Antonio, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Tracy’s doubles team, Chris Pope and John Trinidad, won its first two matches but lost, 6-3, 2-6, 2-6, in the semifinals to John Sharp and Matt Machado of Lodi.

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written by luke sky walker , April 29, 2008

thats my boy brett! better watch out this fool can take on anybody, hes gonna go be a pro rite? lol