Robertson completes a decade of dominance

Captures 10th consecutive Hartshorne Cup title

By BUD KEOHAN

WAKEFIELD — Former WMHS boys’ tennis coach Brian Robertson completed a full decade of dominating the town’s premier tennis tournament, the

Hartshorne Cup, by downing Adam Milholland 6-1, 6-2 Monday afternoon after earlier stopping Cliff “Kip” King 6-1, 6-3 Saturday morning at the Dobbins Courts.

Matt Parment captured the consolation title Wednesday night by stopping Elliot Miller 6-4, 6-0 after a thrilling first set.

Robertson came out charging. After Milholland led 40-30 on serve in the first game, the WMHS guidance counselor put on a spectacular 17-2 run until Milholland trailed 0-4, 0-30 when he suddenly strung together four straight points, evening the game with a pair of delicate drop shots. But Robertson held at 30, and after Milholland saved a set point with a brilliant crosscourt, two points later he double faulted on set point.

The second set had six breaks in eight games as Milholland could not hold while Robertson held the third and fifth games.

After looking a bit shaky to start the second set, double faulting at 15-40 to give Milholland an immediate break, Robertson went to 5-1. After a love game break in the second, he broke Milholland in the fourth game after the challenger escaped 15-40 to deuce, and in the sixth game after Milholland came back from 0-40 to ad in. Milholland broke back at 30 but was then broken at 15 for the match. The points were 28-14 and 30-19 for a 58-33 margin.

In the title match Robertson served consistently and had his left-handed forehand in top form as he was really “locked in mentally,” as he put it. Milholland was disappointed in that he felt he played quite well through the semifinals but that he never really got into the final match as Robertson took charge so quickly.

In the championship semifinals Saturday the top two seeds advanced.

Robertson gained control early on a 16-4 run to 4-0 over King, who then started to attack Robertson’s backhand with a bit of success. King’s lone game was a 12 point, three deuce win in the fifth game.

The second set saw King have more success but too late. He took the second game for 1-1 after Robertson had his lone love game. But the champion took a 10 point, two deuce game, and won three more at 30 to reach 5-1 before King took the next two games at 30. Then Robertson took the one last game he needed at 15. The points were 29-15 and 32-23 for a match total of 61-38.

Robertson’s hard sharply angled shots and some excellent lobs were too much for King, who played intelligently and used his powerful forehand on crosscourt angles to Robertson’s one handed backhand.

Milholland, the Lynnfield HS boys’ tennis coach this past spring, who also plays number one singles for BSC Lynnfield’s 4.0 summer USLTA team captained by Parment, proved he was the number two in the Hartshorne seedings.

He was dominating against Jonathan Laramie, especially in the first set of the 6-0, 6-1 triumph. The points were 24-6 and 30-19 for a 54-25 margin as Milholland committed five double faults.

Laramie only reached 30 in the first and fourth games of the first set as he was simply overwhelmed. But in the second set he tested Milholland far more, getting to deuce in the first game, leading 40-30 in a double deuce third game, and again battling 10 points in the fourth game which was ended with a marvelous combination of a forehand drawing the fleet Laramie one way followed by a stunning backhand.

With the score 5-0 and Milholland serving. Laramie got ahead 0-30 and 15-40 but on the break point it appeared Milholland had hit a clean passing shot past Laramie, but somehow the third seed lunged and blocked it back to win the elusive game.

The Consolations

Parment, at 6-2 with the height to have a solid power serve, had a real tussle with Miller, who was seeking his fifth consolation title.

Miller was broken at 15 to start and Parment went up 3-1. Miller led 40-0 on serve in the fifth game, but thought he had lost the game at 30 only to have Parment tell him the game was not over yet as it was deuce.

When Miller lost that game and went down two breaks, he suddenly revived from 4-1, 40-15, to go on a 14-4 run, fighting off four game points in the 12 point, triple deuce sixth game, holding serve at love in the seventh game, and breaking again in the eighth game at 30 for 4-4 with Miller up 27-25 in points.

He escaped 15-40 in the ninth game with two spectacular shots, a backhand pass followed by his biggest serve of the match for an ace, but then was broken. In the 10th game he was up 15-30 and twice saved set point. But when he moved in to kill off a third set point Parment nailed him with a great lob that could not be touched.

The first set points were 36-34 but Miller could not keep up the pace as the second set was 25-9 for a match total of 61-43. Miller led 15-30 in the fourth game and he came back from 15-40 to deuce in the fifth only to lose the last six points.

In the consolation semifinals Parment dropped only one game to Kiran Kashalkar, but the point margin showed how hard the one new player debuting in the Hartshorne played. The point margins were 29-12 and 40-30 for a match point margin of 69-42.

In the first set Kashalkar battled 14 points through four deuces in the second game on his serve and to deuce in the third game.

In the second set Parment opened by holding a 14 pointer before Kashalkar held at love. Parment held the third game after 16 points and five deuces, took the next pair each at 30, and then broke Kashalkar after 20 points and seven deuces before holding at love.

Miller dropped only a game a set to D.J. Cook, who like Kashalkar, piled up points galore. The points per set were 31-20 and 40-29 for a match margin of 71-49.

Miller won only two games as quickly as 15, one in each set. Cook took the fourth game and battled through 12 points and three deuces in the fifth game before yielding.

Cook won the third game of the second set and won 20 points in the next three games only to have Miller win after seven deuces, three deuces and four deuces in hotly contested games as Cook’s great foot speed helped him.

Hartshorne Cup Notes

A Great Adventure — From September through December, Milholland, a graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara and more recently of Gordon College in Wenham with a Master’s Degree in teaching Earth Science, will be on the adventure of a lifetime at age 27. Starting by flying to Bangkok, Thailand, he expects to visit Thailand, Myanmar (the former Burma), Laos, Vietnam along the coast from Hanoi to Saigon, then to the Indonesian island of Bali and back to Thailand by way of the Indian Ocean resort of Phuket.

Losing A Good One — Unfortunately Parment soon will be buying a home for his family in Melrose as apparently there are few single family homes on the market at present in Wakefield.

Floodlight Problem — Serious night matches are a problem until the lights get stabilized but one floodlight is a problem for the player facing it as it disguises the serve coming at him.

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2015 HARTSHORNE CUP RESULTS

Championship First Round Of 16

Top Quarter: Brian Robertson (1) d. D. J. Cook 6-0, 6-0; Richard Greif d. Al Allard 6-3, 6-0.

Second Quarter: Cliff “Kip” King (4) d. Matthew Parment 0-6, 6-3, 6-3; Bill Conley d. Kiran Kashalkar 6-1, 6-1.

Third Quarter: Jonathan Laramie (3) d. Bud Keohan 6-0, 6-0; Rob Imbriano d. Tom Flynn 6-0, 6-2.

Bottom Quarter: Paul Normile d. Elliot Miller 6-2, 6-3; Adam Milholland (2) d. Kevin Geaney 6-0, 6-0.

Championship Quarterfinals: Robertson d. Greif 6-2, 6-2; King d. Conley 6-4, 6-1; Laramie d. Imbriano 6-2, 6-2; Milholland d. Normile 6-0, 6-1.

Championship Semifinals: Robertson (1) d. King (4) 6-1, 6-3; Milholland (2) d. Laramie (3), both at 9 a.m.

Championship Title Match: Robertson (1) d. Milholland (2) 6-1, 6-2.

Consolation Quarterfinals: Kashalkar d. Flynn 6-4, 6-3; Parment d. Allard 6-0, 6-3.

Consolation Semifinals: Miller d. Cook 6-1, 6-1; Parment d. Kashalkar 6-0, 6-1.

Consolation Title Match: Parment d. Miller 6-4, 6-0.