Game, Set, Match HR

What's a sport without rankings, right? So here we go with our debut of the Top 10 boys singles players in South Hampton Roads. Next week, we'll roll out the girls tennis rankings. Opinions, pro or con, are always welcome. In fact, they're highly encouraged. So hit us up with your thoughts on Facebook , Twitter or at mytopspinlob@gmail.com Oh, and coaches, don't forget those scores! Boys tennis rankings 1. Romesh Kahatapitiya , Sr., Norfolk Academy      - Always a beautiful ball striker, the Naval Academy-bound Kahatapitiya is gaining the tactical proficiency to match and has been playing like a flat-out beast of late. Tuesday's 6-3, 6-3 victory over Cape Henry's Alexey Lunin may not have been as decisive as that score suggests - we're told the match was littered with 50-50 games and quality exchanges. Still, three and three against Lunin is about as impressive a scoreline as you're going to see. 2. Alex Loope , Sr. Norfolk Collegiate     ...

So, who's the top boys singles player at Maury? Evidently, it depends upon the day, as the Commodores have three well-qualified applicants for the job. Right now, the lineup features Harrison Gray has the top spot, followed by Ethan Willingham and Oliver Siegfried. But that order could shift as soon as Wednesday, when Siegfried challenges Willingham for the right to challenge Gray in the latest series of intra-squad battles. "You eat what you kill," Maury coach Janita Burgess Hess said. "If you want that No. 1 court, you have to kick the other guy's butt." Willingham, a senior and the son of tennis teaching pro Tony Willingham, was the No. 1 player virtually all of last season (Tony Willingham is currently the pro at the WestSide Athletic Club in Powells Point, N.C.). But Gray, a junior, closed the gap by developing a weapons-grade forehand. In his only real test against a player  not from Maury this season, Gray dispatched Granby's talented Juli...

It's not always easy to carve out enough time to take in a high school match, but last Thursday (March 30) we made it out to Old Dominion University to check out two of the top teams in Hampton Roads, Cape Henry and Norfolk Collegiate. It's even harder to find the time to write up what we witnessed during men's and women's basketball's Final Four weekend (How 'bout dem Gamecocks!). But now that the hoops have calmed down.... Cape Henry 6, Norfolk Collegiate 3 Key to victory -  In freshmen fraternal twins Alexey and Boris Lunin and senior Andrew Roberts, the Dolphins have three dominant No. 1-caliber performers. The top two doubles teams of the Lunin brothers and Roberts and Flynn Somers are also formidable. So that's five team points - enough to lock down a victory - right there. To beat the Dolphins, a team must have the depth to sweep the matches at the bottom of the order and enough front-line talent to steal one or two points from Cape Henry...

Tennis news from around the web.... As evidenced by its 5-4 loss to Norfolk Academy, perennially strong Jamestown is stacked again. The Virginia Gazette takes a look at this year's Eagles. Jamestown will host Cape Henry on April 21. In a heavyweight girls tennis matchup Friday, 2016 5A state champion Deep Run held off Mills Godwin 6-3. Cox provides a lot of info on its boys and girls team via this handy site . (Two words for other schools: hint, hint). Previewing the Richmond-area teams courtesy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. If you like Roger Federer - and who doesn't, right? - GQ provides an interesting, in-depth look at the Swiss star during his recent return to championship form.  Find a story or news nugget of interest? Send us the link at mytopspinlob@gmail.com