Top seeds capture Metro singles championships

Austin Curtis and Ketan Garg have been playing tennis against each other since elementary school, but the stakes were arguably at their highest for their showdown on Saturday.

The latest chapter in their rivalry played out in the finals of the APS Metro Tournament, with Albuquerque Academy’s Curtis besting La Cueva’s Garg in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 at Albuquerque Academy. While both have enjoyed moments of success while playing against each other over the years, the top-seeded Curtis admitted that this victory might have been a little more meaningful.

“I’d probably say so, because (it was) the first high school match between us, actually,” Curtis said. “We’ve played each other in USTA state tournaments, beaten each other. And this was the first time on the high school stage, a big tournament, the final.”

The third-seeded Garg, who defeated No. 2 Mitchell Rocca in the semifinals, was plenty game, particularly in a competitive first set. Ultimately, Curtis credited a couple key factors for allowing him to prevail.

“My coach helped me out a lot, and I was able to establish my forehand, be assertive, and really hit my spot to just dig deep and bounce back after each point,” Curtis said. “So it was just a very hard-fought match, every game, ups and downs, and it feels great to just come out on top.”

In 2024, Curtis teamed up with Adrian Hanna to win the 1A-4A state doubles title. This year, he plans on competing in singles in hopes of adding another trophy to his collection.

“Definitely have to keep it up, keep working on my serve and forehand and definitely my backhand slice, but just keeping up the momentum and, hopefully, can do the same (in district and) especially state,” Curtis said.

On the girls side of the bracket, Vivica Corley had a little bit of unfinished business to handle after falling to La Cueva’s Cameron King — a three-time Metro winner — in the 2024 finals.

The top-seeded Eldorado senior made short work of No. 2 Lily Walker from Cleveland, winning 6-2, 6-1 in a final match that lasted a little more than an hour.

“I’m really happy that I won it,” Corley said. “I’m a senior, so it’s nice to go out winning Metro because I didn’t win it last year. So I’m proud of myself.

“I think I just played my game. I think it was just working, and then I think I was serving pretty well. Lily is a great player, so it was hard.”

Corley, who was the Class 5A state champion in singles in 2024 (where she avenged the aforementioned loss to King), said she’s not sure where she’ll compete in postseason play this time around. Both Vivica and her sister, Vianca, are University of New Mexico-bound, and they’d like the chance to team up with a state championship on the line.

“We’re still kind of working it out,” Vivica said. “…But it’d just be fun to play with my sister.”

On the team side, Academy took home the boys first-place trophy with 19 points, just ahead of La Cueva (16) and Albuquerque High (14). That triumph was sealed when the Chargers’ tandem of Quinn Douangpanya and Abe Gerstein edged La Cueva’s Elijah Perea and Ronin Reznik 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles final.

Meanwhile, the Academy girls won the Metro team title with 15.5 points ahead of La Cueva (13) and Sandia (nine).

However, the Bears did get the best of the Chargers in doubles, as Chase Holloway and Varinn Sood defeated Michelle Deng and Emeline Doscher 6-3, 6-1 in Saturday’s final.