Marques takes second in singles with first-ever, comeback win
over Live Oak’s Lukralle
GILROY – Senior Robbie Marques knew the biggest hurdle in his way of reaching the T-CAL Tennis Finals was Live Oak’s David Lukralle – who not only beat him in their May 1 regular-season finale, but got the best of him in all of their four encouters over the past two years.
But Marques still wanted one more shot at Lukralle before his high school career came to an end. So after a first-round bye in this year’s T-CAL Finals on the Ridgemark courts in Hollister, Marques paved the way for a fifth meeting when he won his second-round match in just 22 minutes over North Salinas’ Ty Jordan, 6-0, 6-0.
“That’s exactly what I wanted,” said Marques of his semifinal match-up against Lukralle. “If I did not play him, it would not mean anything. I knew I had to go through him or it just wouldn’t be right.”
With the semifinal winner moving on for a certain loss to Salinas’ star John Pettit – the No. 2 ranked player in the entire state – the Marques-Lukralle clash meant everything to both players.
“The day they played here David had an exceptional day. He was just awesome. He could do no wrong. He got all the breaks,” said head coach Chris Yoder of Lukralle’s 6-0, 6-4 sweep of Marques during Gilroy’s 4-3 home victory over Live Oak.
“After Robbie lost on Thursday, he wanted to play him again on Friday. He knew he could play him much better,” the second-year coach added. “I expected him to battle Lukralle. That pretty much was the finals, all others considered. Pettit was a shoe-in for first.”
Marques had to wait a little longer to face Lukralle – as their semifinal bout, scheduled for Saturday, was postponed due to rain until the following Monday.
The delay did not matter much, as Marques outlasted Lukralle in three sets for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 semifinal victory. It was the first time Marques beat Lukralle and the first time he ever won a set off of him.
“I won the one that counted,” Marques said. “It’s all mental toughness… I could tell he was nervous. He was hitting his returns softer than when we played on Thursday. In the third set, I could tell he was a little tired.”
It was not an easy feat though, as Marques dropped the first set to Lukralle and then trailed 4-2 and 5-4 in the second set before coming from behind to steal the win.
“I seriously thought it was over at 5-4,” Marques said. “I knew if I could get into a third set, I was pretty confident I was going to do it because I hadn’t lost a third set all year.”
Marques still hasn’t lost in a third set – finishing his senior campaign with a 12-7 record, including a 0-6, 1-6 loss to Pettit in the T-CAL Championship.
“Robbie wanted to finish the second best in league. That was his goal at the start of the season. He accomplished his goal,” said Yoder of his top senior. “Robbie wore him down. He got tired in the third set and Robbie was determined.”
Marques – who lost in the second round of the T-CAL Finals as a junior – now hopes to receive an individual berth in the CCS Tennis Championships. He will find out after the May 27 seeding meeting if he gets in.
“CCS, I’m pretty mad about it, not as much as the team not getting in but me not getting in as an individual,” said Marques, expecting to get snubbed of a CCS berth. “I don’t want my season to end. I want to keep going.”
