Lincoln’s Will Semler has been a dominant force in Oregon boys tennis this spring, and he capped off his junior season the same way he ended his sophomore year: with a win over Beaverton’s Tannor Binder.
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On Saturday at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center, Semler beat Binder 7-5, 6-3 for the Class 6A boys singles state championship. Last spring, Semler won the same title with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Binder.
One year removed from their previous duel, Semler said Saturday’s matchup was remarkably close to last year’s match.
“It was actually pretty similar,” he said. “We’ve both improved a lot since last year. Otherwise it’s pretty close. Margins are small at this level. I feel like I played a little more aggressive than him today.”
With Semler and Binder coming into Saturday’s match with so much history, Semler said he knew he had to be ready for anything in the championship match.
“There were some surprises on the tactical side of things today,” he said. “It definitely changes things a little bit, but overall we just come out here and compete in the moment.”
That history, Semler said, has made a strong, friendly relationship with himself and Binder. But when the two took to the court on Saturday, it was as competitors.
“We’re here to compete,” he said. “We put in too much work to let the friendship get in the way of the match.”
While his final opponent was the same as last year, Semler had a big new experience this spring: being a teammate to his brother, Lincoln freshman Tiger Semler. Semler made it to the second round of the state tournament before losing to Binder 6-4, 7-5.
Will Semler said having his younger brother around has been beneficial for both of them.
“It’s great,” he said. “I’ve been training with him for over a year now. We help each other a lot and we’re coaching each other along the way.”
The boys doubles state championship was won by Sunset’s Kei Watanabe and Parsa Nasri, who beat West Linn’s Camerson Paulsen and Rhyson Chiang 6-1, 7-5. This is the second-straight boys doubles state championship for the Apollo duo, who beat Lincoln’s Cooper Whittington and Alex Beechem for the state championship last spring.
Despite being the reigning state champions, Watanabe and Nasri were the No. 2 seed in the state tournament. They didn’t lose a set all weekend in the lead up to the state championship.
West Linn took home the team title with 23 team points. In second place was Sunset with 17 points and third was reigning state champion Lincoln with 16 points.
Also from the Cardinals, the boys doubles team of Frederic Kemple and Cooper Lahti was able to win the boys doubles consolation tournament. Kemple and Lahti were the No. 6 seed in the state tournament but had to forfeit their first round match as Lahti had to take an International Baccalaureate exam — one of multiple Lincoln tennis players who had a similar issue this week.
— Nik Streng, nstreng@oregonian.com, @NikStreng
