Despite the frigid temperatures, the Burbank High boys’ tennis team can consistently count on its scorching singles lineup to pile up victories.
It’s a luxury for the Bulldogs, who boast a powerful 1-2 punch in singles and might give them a major edge against the majority of squads they will face well into spring.
Burbank provided quite the demonstration Tuesday, as it lost only six games in singles and rolled to a 15-3 Pacific League home win against Crescenta Valley.
The Bulldogs (4-0 overall and in league) are led in singles by Adam Ridaoui and Amrith Kodumuri. Ridaoui has won three straight league singles championships and Kodumuri, a sophomore, finished runner-up last season. They also qualified for the CIF Individual Tournament.
“I like our team and we bond well,” Ridaoui said. “Amrith and I try to get it going on the court by winning our sets and it’s great to see our other players out there working hard to help us win.
“I think we have a pretty solid team overall.”
The Bulldogs, who finished second in league behind Arcadia and qualified for the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs last season, can also turn to freshman Raphael Lazaryev to help round out the rotation in singles.
On Tuesday, Ridaoui and Kodumuri didn’t lose a game. Lazaryev swept, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, to aid the Bulldogs.
“Raphael came up big and he’s going to get better,” Burbank coach Loi Phan said. “It’s great knowing you can rely on your singles players to come through, but we also have been getting contributions in doubles. We got a big win in doubles in the first set that got us over the top. That was it. This was our first big test.”
Burbank’s doubles team of James Basco and David Kerimyan posted a 6-4 win in the first round to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. The Bulldogs held a 4-2 lead after the first round and extended their advantage to 10-2 entering the third round.
Basco and Kerimyan won their other two sets, 6-0, 6-3. The Bulldogs received two wins in doubles from Dominic Aleman and Edouard Oganesian, 6-0, 6-4, and one victory from Blake Lewis and Vamsi Chintha, 7-5.
Crescenta Valley (2-1 overall and in league) got two wins in doubles from Hochan Lee and Joshua Kook, 6-3, 7-6(7-1), and one victory from Easan Hamkins and Zach Loppnow, 6-3.
The Bulldogs, who began the season with wins against Hoover, Pasadena and Glendale, will meet the Falcons again on April 13 at Crescenta Valley.
Burbank will next take on Arcadia in a league road match at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
