Finals no treat for Huey

Winner, unforced error. Winner, unforced error. Winner, unforced error.

That’s pretty much how former Virginia star Treat Huey’s day went on Monday in the finals of the $10,000 Virginia State Open Clay Court Championships against Martin Sayer at the Glenmore Country Club.

Huey, the defending champion of the tournament, could never find his groove against the former Radford standout.

Sayer didn’t dominate the No. 1-seeded Huey, but he was easily the more consistent player. That proved key in the 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) victory.

“I was feeling good,” said Sayer, the No. 2 seed. “Playing in matches the last two days really got me in condition out there. I really felt like I played some good tennis.”

Huey came out flat. Sayer controlled the first set with steady groundstrokes and a sneaky-fast serve.

Huey couldn’t get anything going. His backhand was all over the place. Drop shots settled into the net. His serve was spotty.

At the end of the set, Huey slammed a ball in frustration into a side fence.

“He was hitting the ball big in the first set and I figured in the second set I just needed to take every ball I could and go after my shots,” Huey said. “In the first set, he just dictated every point and just blew me off the court.

“In the second set, I figured I would make some errors, but that I just needed to go for my shots. If I was going to lose the set, I wanted it to be on my terms – big shots and going for winners.”

Huey started the second set strong, holding serve and breaking Sayer to go up 3-1. Serving at 5-4, Huey seemed poised to take the match to a third set but was broken by Sayer.

“I didn’t want to go to a third set and choke it away because he has the capability to come back and just blow you off the court,” Sayer said. “I had that in the back of my mind.”

In the tiebreaker, Huey hit a forehand winner to even things at 4. After trading points, Huey blasted a forehand long to give Sayer match point at 6-5. However, he then hit a winner to forge another tie.

On the next point, Huey had another unforced error that gave Sayer his second match point. After a lengthy rally, Huey whipped a forehand winner down the line that just nicked the baseline.

Following a double fault, Huey managed to save yet another match point before Sayer finally closed him out, courtesy of two errors from the baseline.

“He was a little bit off today,” Sayer said. “I came out firing. I knew whoever played better would win and I played better. If he had played better, he would have won.”

Said Huey: “I had some chances. I just didn’t come away with it. Coming in I felt great. He just played real well.”

Sayer and Huey, who have developed a friendship from their days at Radford and Virginia and their participation in the Davis Cup, have now split four career meetings. They will each play in an event in Lynchburg this weekend before playing Davis Cup later this month. Sayer will be playing for Hong Kong against Oman, while Huey will represent the Philippines against Pakistan.

Aces

Michal Ciszek and Juan-Martin Stiegwardt defeated Huey and Andrew Downing, by default, in the doubles final. Downing, Huey’s former Virginia teammate, couldn’t play because of a medical issue.

Huey had won the doubles title last year with Teddy Angelinos, another former UVa teammate.