If Chagrin Falls freshman Andrew Zimcosky was nervous heading into the 2019 OHSAA state tennis championships he didn’t show it.
Zimcosky cruised to the semifinals with a pair of wins on Friday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.
He defeated Cincinnati Country Day’s Neil Badiani, 6-0, 6-0, in the first round then topped Bryan’s Jay Fortner, 6-0, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.
“My goal, looking at the draw, was to make a run at the finals and hopefully get there,” Zimcosky said. “Now, going into (Saturday), I’m thinking I can’t let this round get to me and I have to set the focus to what’s familiar to me. We’re playing in a huge stadium, which is pretty awesome. I can’t let that get to me too much.”
After beating Badiani in the first game, Zimcosky had to work hard to win the second to take a 2-0 lead against his first round opponent.
Taking care of business there gave him the confidence he needed in the quarterfinals.
“That was awesome, especially the way I did it,” Zimcosky said about winning his first-round bout. “It was a close game after I won the first game; it was close to go up 2-0. That game was really important because it gave me more momentum and I really started to cruise. If I lost that game, it could have been a little closer and then it would have been tighter going into my second match. Going into the second match with a nice win was huge. I kind of just had a confidence around me that I was pretty happy to have.”
Following his quarterfinals win, Zimcosky was able to catch the last part of his semifinals round opponent, Pierce Elliott of Preble Shawnee, who advanced to the semis with wins of 6-3, 6-0 and 6-1, 7-5.
“He’s a tough player and I actually played him in doubles in a tournament,” Zimcosky said. “I know it’s going to be a tough match. I just have to prepare myself as much as I can for that match and do the little things. I’m going to put it all out there and let’s see what he’s got.”
Semifinals being at 9:00 a.m.
