Berry, Duffy move within a win of state tournament

ST. LOUIS — Central seniors David Berry and Patrick Duffy are one match away from making a return visit to the state tennis tournament.

Berry and Duffy, who won the Class 2 District 1 doubles championship last year, advanced to the semifinals of this year's tournament, which is being played in St. Louis.

Berry and Duffy, who are seeded No. 1, will play the pivotal semifinal match against Parkway South's Ryan Lund and Matt Epplin today at 9 a.m. at the Creve Coeur Racquet Club.

The other semifinal match in doubles will be between Lindbergh's James Gyllenborg and Carlos Trullenque and Oakville's Scott Millard and Brad Martin.

The top two singles seeds are still alive. Top-seeded Thomas Wolff of Lindbergh will play Michael Delcau of Parkway South in one semifinal, while second-seeded Malay Bhatt of Poplar Bluff faces off with Carlos Espinosa of Eureka.

The championship matches will be played at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park around noon.

The race for team district champion is extremely tight. Eureka is in first place with 20 points. But only two points separate the top four teams. Central is in second place with 18.5 points, while Lindbergh and Parkway South both have 18 points. The top four teams from the district move on to regional competition next week. It appears that those four will move on, although the order will be determined today.

Meanwhile, the top two singles players and top two doubles teams from the district advance directly to the MSHSAA tournament, which will be played May 23 and 24 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.