EM players dominate tournament Defending champ wins

LEWISTON – For the first time in recent … Heck, for the first time in not-so-recent memory, three-quarters of the final four field of the Maine State Boys Singles Championships will represent Eastern Maine.

Defending state champion Ian Robinson of Brewer, 2001 semifinalist Noah John of Ellsworth, Spanish exchange student Manuel Blanc from Foxcroft Academy and 2001 runnerup Pat Conway from Deering of Portland emerged from Monday’s Round of 40.

All four will play again in Thursday’s semifinals, scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. at the Waynflete High School courts in Portland. Top-seed Robinson will meet unseeded Blanc and No. 3 seed John will square off with second-ranked Conway.

Robinson, who beat Blanc in a previous meeting this season, pretty much breezed through his three matches as he gave up just three games in 39.

“I think I’m playing much better this year. I’m getting more oomph on my serve and it’s going in,” said the Brewer High junior. “I got a groove going in my first match and I felt I played pretty well from there.”

John was almost as dominant as he lost just four games in 30 while showcasing an improved serve and a powerful overhead smash.

“My serve was the big thing. I worked all year on my serve and it’s gratifying to have it come out and help me so many times,” John said. “I would say I probably got 70 percent or so of my first serves in today.”

One thing that hadn’t changed was John’s trademark, lucky, day-glow Denver Broncos baseball cap, which he also wore all the way through the tournament last year.

“I may be a little more sweat-stained, but it’s still here,” John said with a big grin.

Both John and Robinson said going back to the semis was a little easier the second time around after going through it the year before.

“You still get a little nervous, but once you get on the court it all goes away,” said Robinson. “And knowing everyone’s gunning for you gets you on your game.”

Blanc pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the day as he used a powerful return game and hard, accurate serves to knock off fourth-seeded Danny Hammond of Brunswick.

“I couldn’t quite figure him out. You either have to go deep or real short on him because he can paint the lines,” said Hammond. “He has pretty good power, he can volley at the net, and he can outwait you going baseline to baseline.

Despite giving up about five inches to the 6-foot-5 Hammond, Blanc rallied all the way back from a 2-6 opening-set loss to victory with 6-4, 6-2 wins in the next two sets.

Blanc then took care of fellow dark horse candidate Justin Tardif of Biddeford with a 6-2, 6-2 win to reach the semis. Tardif knocked off prelim winner Pat Barron of Yarmouth, who upset No. 5 seed and hometown boy Brian Willer of Lewiston.

Conway foiled an all-Eastern Maine semifinal by pouncing on second serves and running down seventh-seeded Bangor freshman Bryan Brown en route to a 6-0, 7-5 victory in the quarterfinals.

“I wasn’t very consistent serving today and I should have put more spin on it since I wasn’t able to get my regular first serve in as much as I needed to,” said Brown. “He was able to take advantage and kind of put the ball where I had to reach for it.”