Oct. 25 — MINNEAPOLIS — Never underestimate the heart of a champion.
That adage suited Rochester Mayo’s Claire Loftus perfectly Friday afternoon during the singles championship of the Class 2A tennis tournament at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center.
The Mayo senior went from looking exhausted and beaten to a champion, beating Elk River’s Ava Nelson 5-7, 7-5, 2-0, the final set abbreviated when Nelson retired after suffering from Quadriceps cramps at the end of the second set.
Loftus was the tournament’s top seed, Nelson No. 3.
That left Loftus a perfect 32-0 on the season and gave the senior a second straight state championship.
“Obviously it was the state finals and I had to bring the energy to play my best tennis,” Loftus said. “Regardless of the results, I had to do it because it would be the last game of my high school career. I had to bring it all.”
Loftus had every right to be exhausted. In Friday’s semifinals, she played three sets before beating Eagan’s Cassandra Li.
Two hours later, the title fight took place with Nelson, who on Friday morning, in the other semifinal, won in straight sets against Loftus’ sophomore sister, Aoife.
This meant Nelson was relatively fresh for the final. And Claire Loftus? Not so much.
“It’s been a long week of tennis,” said Loftus, who played seven matches in four days, including three on Tuesday and Wednesday to help Mayo win its second straight team championship.
“It’s been pretty physically and mentally draining,” Loftus said. “And then I had that long match with (Cassandra Lli). That made it difficult to bounce back.”
But she did it.
After blowing a 4-0 lead in the first set against Nelson, and losing it 7-5, Loftus called on all of his reserves to defend his championship.
Gradually his energy returned, looking inspired as his strategy of now asserting himself in managerial spots and charging the net more regularly began to pay big dividends.
While Loftus bounced back, it was Nelson who lost his powers, ultimately finding himself sidelined forever with those cramps.
“Before the match, I knew (Nelson’s) style had to be aggressive from the baseline,” Loftus said. “She likes to attack the ball. I told myself from the second set that I had to be the one attacking every point, otherwise I would be defending all the time. The change I made was just to be more aggressive.” .
Mayo coach Jeff Demaray has previously coached women’s tennis champions. But in Loftus, there is one who is alone.
Her skills, her will to fight and her leadership make her unique.
“She was amazing today,” said Demaray, who has had Loftus at No. 1 in singles for the past six years. “Even though it was her seventh match in the last four days, she found a way to persevere and keep fighting. She was really tired. She was running on empty. But she gave it her all. That was it. to everyone’s credit for the conditioning she has undergone over the years (so that she can fight back).”
And then he made his proclamation.
“Claire is the best player I’ve ever coached,” Demaray said. “And what’s so special about her is that she’s an even better person. She’s a great role model, on and off the field.”
—Mayo’s doubles team of Keely Ryder and Malea Diehn finished third overall. The defending state champions from a year ago lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to future champions Rory Wahlstrand and Reese Wahlstrand of Mounds View in the semifinals. It was a tough individual tournament for Diehn, a sophomore who was battling a virus. Ryder also suffered from a cough and cold.
Ryder/Diehn defeated Broolyn Keller and Reese Keller of Hastings 6-0, 6-4 in the third-place match.
“I’m so proud of how these two came back,” Demaray said.
Ryder is one of three seniors on the Mayo team, with Claire Loftus and Charlotte Colby the others.
—In the Class 1A tennis tournament at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center, Lake City’s doubles combination of Therese Bauer and Rylee Thieren finished third overall. Bauer/Thieren lost 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals to eventual champions Mach Sohre and Kelsey Jaeger of Maple River.
Bauer and Thieren then defeated Minnewaska’s Megan Thorfinnson and Alia Randt 6-4, 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker) in the third-place match.
Bauer and Thieren, both freshmen, are part of a bright future for Lake City tennis.
—At the University of Manitoba Baseline Tennis Center
SIMPLE
Semi-finals: Claire Loftus (Mayo) def. Cassandra Li (Eagan) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Ava Nelson (Elk River) def. Aoife Loftus (Mayo) 6-1, 7-6 (7-1). Final: C. Loftus (Mayo) def. Nelson (Elk River) 5-7, 7-5, 2-0 (retired). Third place: Li (Eagan) def. A. Loftus (Mayo) 6-2, 6-3.
DOUBLE
Semi-finals: Rory Wahlstrand/Reese Wahlstrand (Mounds View) def. Malea Diehn/Keely Ryder (Mayo) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4; Astrid Kerrman/Raya Hou (Edina) def. Brooklyn Keller/Reese Keller (Hastings) 6-3, 6-4. Finale: Wahlstrand/Wahlstrand (Mounds View) def. Kerman/Hou 6-2, 6-4. Third place: Diehn/Ryder (Mayo) def. Keller/Keller 6-0, 6-4.
(Includes section 1 finishers)
—At the Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center
SIMPLE
Final: Chloe Alley (Minnehaha Academy) def. Fatemeh Vang (Blake) 6-0, 6-3.
DOUBLE
Semi-finals: Mach Sohre/Kelsey Jaeger (Maple River) def. Thérèse Bauer/Rylee Thieren (Lake City) 6-4, 6-1; Ally Mersman/Madison Ward (Maple River) def. Megan Thorfinnson/Alia Randt (Minnewaska) 7-5, 6-0. Final: Sohre/Jaeger (Maple River) def. Mersman/Ward (Maple River) 6-4, 6-4. Third place: Bauer/Thieren (Lake City) def. Thorfinnson/Randt (Minnewaska) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
