Championships during the annual Hub City Open Tennis Tournament provided many intense battles out in the heat Sunday afternoon at the NSU Courts. While not all matches went to super tiebreakers, most were just a handful of points away from going the distance.

Landon Zikmund, a former Aberdeen Roncalli player, found himself in a tight match in the Men’s Open Doubles, along with former Roncalli teammate Cason Hellwig.

While the former Aberdeen players lost in straight sets, they were on the doorstep of winning both, but lost crucial deuce points along the way.

“Cason and I were talking about that, too,” Zikmund said. “We were like even if we just split deuce points. I think we went 1 and 7 on deuce points, which is just brutal.”

Those deuce points resulted in a key swing during a 6-3, 6-4 setback.

“I really commend him, especially for coming off a match earlier, and then for also keeping his mind,” Zikmund said of Hellwig. “We were constantly, next point, next point. Those were some critical points that unfortunately they just came out on top of.”

Zikmund said they had a strategy against a team from Jamestown, N.D., in the final.

“We do really good when we’re both at net,” Zikmund said, “so we played a lot of like lob front guy, get the two up front, especially right on that last game. We’re getting two up, we have a good shot, (Isaac Mimong is) moving and he shoots a backhand right at my shins. I’m like man, that’s just better players at that point.”

Zikmund, who will be a sophomore at North Dakota State this fall majoring in Mechnical Engineering, knows a thing or two about good players.

“I tried NDSU’s Club Tennis team,” Zikmund said. “I’m technically a member, but the skill level on that team is a lot greater than I thought it was going to be, since it’s an actual Division I tennis team.”

SUCCESSFUL NEW-LOOK DOUBLES TEAM

One of the Open Mixed Doubles teams that competed in the tourney was recently put together.

Cason Hellwig and Reese Comstock just formed a duo and nearly won a championship in the tourney, falling in a super tiebreaker in the title match.

“We just started working together this summer. I’ve known him from tennis for a while,” Comstock said. “We worked at Wylie Park this summer, so I figured I’d just ask him. I didn’t know who else to play with.”

It turned out the two players’ style meshed pretty well out on the court.

“Honestly, it’s been really smooth. I feel like we work together pretty well,” Comstock said. “It takes a little bit of communication, but honestly I was surprised at how well we’ve been working together with so little experience playing together. It’s been fun.”

Comstock said playing in a tourney like the Hub City Open, which also features numerous adult players, is different than playing high school tennis.

“It seems less serious. High school you’re playing people your age, and so you’re just expecting I need to beat this person because they’re the same age as me. I need to prove that I’m better than them, but this is different,” Comstock said. “If you’re playing people that are older, more experienced, then it’s just such a different dynamic. I think it makes it a little bit less intimidating.”

Comstock, who graduated from Aberdeen Central this past spring, will be heading off to the University of Florida soon to attend school there.

Interestingly enough, it was a sports team that first attracted her to the school.

“I loved their softball team growing up so I knew about them from that, and then just doing more  research in the last year or so about schools and where I wanted to end up,” Comstock said. “They have a really, really good pre med program and also just their STEM programs are all amazing, so I thought I might as well apply and I got in. And I’ve always wanted to go somewhere warm for at least some amount of my life.”

LEAVING IT ALL ON THE COURT

Few people spent more time on the court Sunday than Cason Hellwig. On a day when some players forfeited matches because of the heat, while others retired, Hellwig battled his way through an afternoon of matches.

When asked how long he had been on the court, Hellwig responded, “About six straight hours, a couple of 15-minute breaks in between.”

The conditions featured a heat index of more than 100 degrees along with a 74 percent dew point.

Hellweig said he wasn’t sure how he got through it.

“It’s been tough,” he said. “I’m tired.”

What made matters even more difficult is that each of his three matches featured long, grueling points.

“All three of them were just a battle,” Hellwig said. “They were all super close.”

Hellwig said the conditions take just as much of a toll mentally as they do physically.

“I just look forward to the next break,” Hellwig said, “get to the bench and get water on my face with a towel, and cool off for 10 seconds.”

Intestingly enough, Hellwig was facing his brother, Colton, across the net in the title match in Open Mixed Doubles. It just so happened to be Colton’s birthday.

“I had to give him a gift,” Cason said of his team dropping the title contest in a super tiebreaker.

Cason and Reese Comstock were up a set and led 5-4 in the second before things turned, eventually losing second-set tiebreaker and then a super tiebreaker to Colton and his partner, Mirra Frohling.

“Colton had some great serves on the 5-4 game, and got back to 5-5,” Cason said. “It was a fun match.”

Hellwig had immediate plans following his six-hour stint on the court.

“I going to go home and sleep,” he said, “that’s what I’m going to do.”

FALLING SHORT TO TEAMMATES

The Women’s Open Doubles championship featured four current Aberdeen Central players.

The tandem of Estelle Riggs and Sarah Knie defeated Avery Tennant and Chloe Ladner in a tight battle for the second time this past month, also edging them in the C.C. Open Junior Tournament. Sunday’s score was 7-6, 11-9 in the tiebreaker, and 6-4.

“It’s anyone’s game when it’s that close. Just a couple points can make the whole thing,” Ladner said. “I’m really proud of them, though. They’ve come a long way.”

Ladner said it feels much different facing teammates than playing other people.

“I feel like it connects us though in a way, because you’re playing each other for spots on the team, too, and everything,” Ladner said, “but at the end of the day you’re playing together and you’re ranked so the team can do what they do best.”

Each time the foursome face each other, the contests are tightly-contested battles.

“They’re all really close, but they’ve been playing a lot, though. … They’re doing all the tournaments,” Ladner said. “They’ve worked really hard.”

As would be the case in close matches, there were numerous deuce points in the final that helped determine the outcome. Ladner, who will be a senior this season, said a key is not to think about it too much.

“It’s definitely more nerve-wrecking,” Ladner said, “but if you just play it like a normal point, I think you play it better.”

FRIENDS FACE EACH OTHER IN FINAL

This past weekend marked the first Hub City Open for Will Muellenbach of Milbank. He advanced to the final in the Men’s 4.5 Singles and faced his high school teammate Alex Baugh.

“Him and I go back and forth whenever we play,” Muellenbach said.

On this occasion, Muellenbach, who will be a sophomore this fall, won a tight battle by the scores of 7-6, 7-3 in the tiebreaker, and 6-4.

“Really just out-serving him,” Muellenbach said of the key to the match. “I know he likes to hit hard so … I like to bait him into hitting hard.”

Muellenbach won his share of points by playing stellar defense when Baugh did hit aggressively.

“Playing defense is one of my key components to winning a match,” Muellenbach said.

Muellenbach, who plans on coming back to Aberdeen to play in more tournaments in the future, said he likes to face different styles of tennis players.

“You always got to be adaptive on the court,” Muellenbach said, “but I hope next year I to get to play against some adults, get to see some different competition.”

MEN’S DIVISION

Open Singles

Jordan Koushkouski def. Aric Tennant, 6-1, 6-3; Isaac Mimong def. John Vogel, 6-2, 6-2.

Championship: Mimong def. Koushkouski, 6-3, 6-2.

Consolation: Gannon May def. Landon Zikmund, 8-4; Zandar Binde def. Palmer Johnson, 8-5; Jayden Reecy, bye; May, bye; Binde def. Reecy, 8-1. Consolation championship: Binde def. May 9-7.

4.5 Singles

Alex Baugh def. Hunter Miller, 6-3, 6-4; Will Muellenbach def. Brock Anderson, 6-4, 5-0, retired.

Championship: Muellenbach def. Bough, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Consolation: Grady Anderson def. Alex Tarver, 8-2; Wyatt Kiesz def. Phil Swiggum, 8-3. Consolation championship: Anderson def. Kiesz, 8-6.

Open Doubles

Championship: Jordan Koushkouski-Isaac Mimong def. Landon Zikmund-Cason Hellwig, 6-3, 6-4.

3.5 Doubles

(Round Robin) Todd Pederson-Gannon Pederson def. Alex Baugh-Will Muellenbach, by default. First Place: Pederson-Pederson. Second Place: Baugh-Muellenbach.

WOMEN’S DIVISION

Open Singles

Sarah Knie def. Mady Holman, 6-2, 6-3; Alice Vogel def. Erin Dudley, 4-6, 5-5, retired.

Championship: Vogel def. Knie, 7-5, 4-6, (10-4).

Consolation: Estelle Riggs def. Bailegh Dannen, 8-1. Consolation championship: Riggs def. Debrianna Hicks, 8-2.

Open Doubles

Championship: Sarah Knie-Estelle Riggs def. Avery Tennant-Chloe Ladner, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4.

MIXED DOUBLES

Colton Hellwig-Mirra Frohling def. Aric Tennant-Sarah Knie, by default; Cason Hellwig-Reese Comstock def. Ron Meier-Julia Knie,

Championship: Hellwig-Frohling def. Hellwig-Comstock, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), (10-5).