Gabriel Sifuentes recently reached the final of the Level One West Side Tennis Club Junior Tennis Championships, a United States Tennis Association sanctioned event in Forest Hills.
He bowed to top-seeded Gardner Howe of Locust Valley, Long Island 6-0,6-2, in the championship match of the Boys 12 Singles.
Sifuentes, a resident of Flushing, tried his best to pull it out, but the balls were bouncing in his rival’s direction. He seemed just not it have ‘it.’ However, he is doing better and better, each time he steps on to the court, according to his father, Carlos Sifuentes, who manages a restaurant, where he had to run off to after the match.
Carlos is content with how he played during the tournament even though he lost in the finals. “You win some and you lose some,” he said.
The third-seeded Sifuentes drew a bye in the first round, and then he won three matches in the tournament, which comprised 22 players. His strong part of his game is his forehand.
Carlos grew up in his native land of Peru, where his sport was soccer between ages 5 and 21. Gabriel started his sports career in Flushing where he first took up soccer, and switched to tennis a brief try with the booter activity. His father gave up soccer to spend time with his son.
“During the summer, I’ll be playing with the New York Junior Tennis League program at the Randalls Island site,” he said.
His favorite surface is the hard courts; therefore, he had trouble with the Forest Hills clay courts and he faced a better player in the final.
Now he will stay in shape for next season by practicing and playing locally.
