LEXINGTON — This does not bode well for you pickleballers.
If this week’s action in the 90th News Journal Tennis Tournament is any indication, Ethan Remy and Dylan Catanese will not be stopped in their bid for a third straight title in the round-robin pickleball division.
At least 14 other doubles teams have signed up for Thursday’s 5:30 competition at Lakewood Racquet Club – it’s basically a sawed-off version of tennis – and they’ve got their work cut out to say the least.
To win the title, some tandem will need to go through Remy, who won the boys 18-and-under singles title on Tuesday, and Catanese, who won the boys 16-and-under singles title without losing a game on Monday
Remy is at the top of his game, coming off a masterful 6-0, 6-3 win over Catanese in the 18s finals.
And Catanese, who won the 18s doubles title with Karl Etzel on Sunday, will probably want to take out his frustration from losing to Remy on that little plastic ball Thursday night.
“Me and Dylan are hoping to take that (pickleball title) again,” Remy said. “We play it like tennis players. You’re supposed to just dink it over the net, but we just smash it.”
Speaking of smash …
What happened to the kid who used to be a human backboard, simply getting the ball back and letting his opponents make the mistakes?
Remy, a senior this fall at Lexington High School, is all grown up and so is his tennis game. He had Catanese on his heels and running from corner to corner from the outset of Tuesday’s title match, spraying shots along the baseline.
“I’ve grown quite a bit; I’m about 5-10 now, which really helps with my serve,” Remy said. “I was probably like 5-6 my freshman year. I just have more confidence in my shots, I guess.”
Remy hit with such pace and power with his forehand and backhand that he would make Catanese look like he was out of position, even though many times he was not.
“He’ll do that to you,” said Ron Schaub, tourney director/Lakewood teaching pro/Lex tennis coach. “He can drive those balls into the corners. He’s been working on as soon as he hits it into the corner, he comes in and volleys that (ball) away.”
Schaub tagged Remy with the nickname “The Destroyer” at an early age because he was this unassuming kid who quietly went about dismantling his opponent.
Now that he’s a three-time state qualifier and the reigning Ohio Cardinal Conference Player of the Year, the moniker carries a different meaning because of the way he punishes the ball.
“He played well,” said Catanese, who beat Remy’s younger brother, Cooper, 6-0, 6-0 in the 16s championship match. “I’d hit a pretty good shot and Ethan would come up with a better shot.”
Remy lost only two points during a three-game stretch of the first set, which was over quickly. And then he jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second.
But a doublefault at 40-30 in the third game opened the door for Catanese, and he capitalized by winning the decisive point under the no-ad, first to four points format. He then pulled even at 2-all by holding serve and the players stayed on serve through six games, with Catanese holding at love to make it 3-3.
At that point, Remy started to pull away with some lethal shots from both sides. Consecutive backhand crosscourt winners helped him hold for a 4-3 lead and then at 30-40 in the next game he unleashed a forehand crosscourt winner for the break, putting him up 5-3.
Forehand winners, backhand winners, drop shot winners, volley winners, service winners … the only thing missing from Remy’s arsenal was a service ace. And then he cracked one to set up match point.
It ended with another rocket off Remy’s racket that a lunging Catanese couldn’t chase down.
“I just tried to keep my cool and not show any emotion because Dylan is really good,” Remy said, referring to that stretch when Catanese was hanging tough and trying to extend the match beyond two sets. “We’re basically at a similar skill level. I just played better today.”
Catanese had some success when he took some pace off his shots and Remy sent those balls into the net. But once Remy got back on track he went in for the kill.
“I started to get some games and momentum, but it didn’t last long,” Catanese said. “Nothing worked. Hopefully, he can play like that in doubles.”
They are not only playing pickleball together, but men’s open doubles as well, where all eyes will be on partners Jay Harris and Will Calhoun, native Mansfielders who are coming in from New York and North Carolina, respectively, and bringing with them the nation’s No. 1 ranking in 50-and-over doubles.
“I’m ready for that,” Catanese said. “We’ve talked about Jay and (Calhoun). That would be something to knock them off. We’ll have to play so good … and we can. That would be fun, to play them.”
Remy and Catanese were Division II sectional and district doubles champs this past spring and went 3-0 together at this year’s Lexington Invitational, beating a duo from Columbus Bexley 8-0 that made it to the semifinals in the OHSAA state tournament.
This summer, though, has been mostly about singles for Remy. He’s played a lot of USTA tournaments, traveling to Michigan twice, as well as West Virginia and Cincinnati. He played the Midwest Closed, one of the most exclusive tournaments in this part of the country and bounced back from a first round loss to win three times in the backdraw.
Remy is currently among the top players in the Northeast Ohio rankings and one of the top 15 in Ohio.
“This is probably the most (USTA) tournaments I’ve played,” he said. “It’s my last chance to get my rankings up before I go off to college, and it’s helped my mental game a lot. Everyone has a different playing style, so I like how I’m able to change my game depending on that.”
He’s looking at NCAA Division II programs like Findlay, Tiffin and Walsh, but if he continues on his current path next spring Schaub would not be surprised if some Division I schools show interest. He’s that good.
“He’s been practicing like crazy, he’s got all that (USTA) tournament experience, he’s filling out (physically),” Schaub said. “He’s gifted with his groundstrokes. He’s phenomenally accurate and his backhand, oh, my God, he can line up that backhand and put it down the line or crosscourt. His backhand is special.”
Schaub said Remy’s three set victory over Columbus Academy’s Lucas Xue in this year’s state team tournament opened a lot of eyes.
Remy lost to Xue in the regular season and was down a set in the rematch, before rallying to play a huge role in sending Lex to the state finals with a 3-2 victory over Academy. The Minutemen finished runners-up to Cincinnati Seven Hills and also No. 2 in the state in the final coaches rankings.
“Xue is one of the best players in Columbus, but it’s no fluke that Ethan beat him,” Schaub said. “So many people called me and said, ‘Man, Ethan beat Lucas?’ By winning that match at No. 1, that was huge for us.”
In Tuesday’s other final, brothers Philip and Levi Etzel beat Cainen Palmer and Dean Galbraith 14-12 in the third set tiebreaker for the boys 14-and-under doubles title.
If You Go
Here’s the weekend schedule for the 90th News Journal Tennis Tournament, with matches set for either Lakewood Racquet Club or the Lexington High School courts:
Friday: The mixed doubles round-robin competition, from 5:30 to approximately 8:30 pm.
Saturday: The round of 32 men’s singles matches starts at 9:30 a.m. and the round of 16 women’s singles matches begins at 11 a.m. Doubles matches to follow.
The 90th News Journal Tournament birthday celebration from 6:30-9 p.m. at Lakewood.
Sunday: The singles quarterfinals and semifinals matches. Doubles semifinals and finals to follow.
Monday: The men’s singles and women’s singles championship matches at 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Rocket man: Remy blasts off from the baseline to win 90th NJ boys 18 U title