Patience makes perfect for Settlers boys tennis team

Sometimes it comes down to being patient. Just ask Evan Czartosieski, who has turned around his tennis game with patience.

“I get frustrated easily. I’m a very hot-tempered player,” he said. “If I lose control, that could tell my opponent that my mind’s out, and mentally, I get out of it bad. I would say that I have better patience at the end of season, rather than the beginning.”

That trait was on full display Thursday afternoon, as the Southold/Greenport top seeded singles player recorded a 6–4, 6–2, victory over Hampton Bay’s Jaime DePalma in a Suffolk County Division IV encounter that helped boost the Settlers to a 6-1 home win.

“If he doesn’t stay patient, then he loses unnecessary points,” Southold coach Andrew Sadowski said. “When you’re not patient, and you go for winners that you don’t need to go for, you make mistakes. It comes back to haunt you a little bit, especially your mentality. I thought he played very well today.”

Czartosieski said that his volleys from the net and ability to play under pressure were keys to Thursday’s victory.

“We went to deuce, 40–40, seven times,” he said. “I won every single one except for one.”

The turning point of Czartosieski’s season came in a marathon confrontation at Eastport/South Manor on April 21, when the junior defeated his opponent, 3–6, 7–5, 6–6 (7–2 tiebreaker).

“That was the longest match I’ve ever played — two hours, 15 minutes of just straight playing,” he said. “That game was tedious. It was long, it was obnoxious. He was good. It was just a very, very hard-fought match. I was down 1–5, and I came back and won five straight games. It was my best match, my longest match and easily my most improved match.”

Sadowski certainly was impressed with Czartosieski’s persistence that day.

“He kept coming back, was down at match point, and came back and won the game,” he said. “He just kept his momentum going from that. Evan is very intelligent young man. He gets it.”

After enduring a slow start to the season playing against the top Division IV teams, the Settlers (5–7, 3–8) have rebounded, winning four of their last five matches.

Sadowski was particularly pleased with the way the Settlers went out and competed against the Baymen (1–11, 1–10).

Not surprisingly, being patient was a vital component.

“I think the big thing today was that they were patient with each other,” he said. “The doubles teams were patient with their partners. That’s really what wins matches.”

The Settlers are a young team as Jake Baxendale is the only senior on the squad.

Prior to the match, he was honored by Sadowski as part of Senior Day.

“It’s very rare we have only one senior,” he said in front of the team. “I’m very happy in my years of coaching tennis that we have Jake ‘Day.’ We appreciate your efforts.”

Baxendale’s second-seeded match did not go as planned as he lost to John DePalma, 2–6, 1–6. He was battling a cold and suffered from food poisoning earlier in the day.

“I was a little under the weather, so I definitely wasn’t performing as well as I could,” he said. “I just couldn’t get in the groove, unfortunately. But I played alright.”

In third singles, Southold freshman Grady Brigham defeated Chris Clinton, 6–1, 6–1.

The Settlers swept all four doubles matches. In the top spot, juniors Josh Uguna and Jason Rodriguez won 6–3, 6–2. Sophomores Clint Cornell and Brandon Moran took the second doubles match 6–2, 6–0. In the third slot, sophomores Johnny Moran and John Nuzzi combined for a 6–2, 6–1 win, while junior Tyler Penny and sophomore Kyle Davis registered a 6–1, 6–1 victory.

As a history teacher and tennis and soccer coach, Sadowski hopes his students and athletes will continue to improve.

“The biggest thing is you want to see them learning,” he said. “You want to see that they’re listening and actually applying what they’re trying to improve on and what they’re trying to correct. That’s clearly happening, especially at this time of the year.”

And that could bode well for next season with so many underclassmen having a year of varsity tennis under their belts.

“They’re all super good. They’re all super competitive,” Czartosieski said. “They’re all ready to play. They’re super focused. I think it’ll be a good season next year.”