It was advantage Hunter Harrison from the start.
Harrison's 6-4, 6-3 victory over Little Rock Catholic junior Parker Stearns in the boys singles final of the boys overall tournament at North Little Rock's Burns Park Tennis Center on Thursday followed a grueling semifinal match for Stearns.
Harrison, a Pulaski Academy senior, said he knew Stearns was in deep in the semifinal round. Stearns faced his friend and rival Jake Bridges of Pulaski Academy in a match that began at 10 a.m. Stearns' 6-3, 7-6 victory did not end until 12:17 p.m. His finals match with Harrison began an hour and 12 minutes later.
"I knew that Hunter would have an advantage, because either way Jake and I were going to be exhausted," Stearns said.
"Obviously in the second set, his shirt was just soaked," Harrison said. "I knew the long semifinal he played was going to work to my advantage."
Fatigue did not handicap Stearns early in the final. Though Harrison led 2-1 in the first set, Stearns broke serve to take a 3-2 lead. Until then, he seemed unaffected by his prolonged semifinal, but as he sat between games, he hung a towel from an umbrella above his bench, clearly for shade against the 81-degree, humid sunshine.
"I was feeling pretty good right then, but I remember getting off that bench and thinking, 'No, I'm still tired,' '' Stearns said.
"When he broke me to go up 3-2, I said that, OK, I can't lose my focus at all," Harrison said. "I knew I was going to have to really concentrate on every point and every service game. I'm really happy to have won this."
Stearns and Harrison have practiced and played against one another since they were preteens, through the early stages of their tennis development, and are consequently familiar with each others games.
"We've played together all of our lives," Stearns said. "I wouldn't say I know how to play him, because obviously he beats me, but I do know how to get some good games off of him."
Harrison, the defending champion, came out firing. Back-to-back service aces highlighted the ninth game as he took a 5-4 lead. At one point, Stearns seemed nearly awed. After the second of Harrison's aces, Stearns looked Chip Stearns, his father, in the small grandstand and shook his head as if he to indicate he wasn't sure how to respond.
Stearns said he most likely would not have beaten Harrison, since his long, hard victory over Bridges cut deeply into his reserves.
"Even if I played my best, he probably would've beaten me," Stearns said. "He played really well today."
Harrison was not tested quite as much in the second set, though Stearns was within 4-2 and 5-3 before Harrison closed the out the match.
"Around halfway through the first set and all the way through the second, I started to cramp," Stearns said. "I just tried to use not as much legs and more arms. Now I'm not even sure if I can make it to my car."
Sports on 10/28/2016