The most crucial month of the season loomed, and Highland Park junior Evan Glebov couldn’t serve fully.
“I was really scared, to be honest,” he said.
Glebov had strained his right pectoral three weeks before the state meet.
“It wasn’t looking so good,” he said. “Service is one of the biggest weapons in the sport. My serve was much slower and really painful.”
Pain and all, Glebov and his doubles partner, sophomore Blake Gold, still marched to the Class 2A state championship match in Palatine on May 27.
“Evan’s serve was a shell of what it usually is,” Highland Park coach John Whitehead said.
In the final, Glebov and Gold faced New Trier’s Chris Ackerman and Stan Okesson, the duo responsible for their lone loss of the season.
“I was a little concerned at first, but I know Evan,” Gold said. “I knew he’d come through. He was doing great on serves, especially in the finals. It ended up not mattering that much.”
It didn’t matter at all. Glebov and Gold rolled 6-3, 6-2 to become the fourth Highland Park doubles team to win a state title.
“When I realized we’d actually won, I didn’t know what to do,” Gold said. “I was at a loss for words.”
After clinching the championship point, Glebov and Gold embraced at the net and looked at each other with astonishment.
“We knew the job had been finished,” Glebov said.
“We were being more aggressive,” Gold added. “We wanted it more.”
Entering the season, they hadn’t even played doubles before, let alone with each other. Individually, they were two of the program’s top singles players, but singles is an entirely different game.
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“When we talked about the possibility of them looking into doubles this year, they were excited about it,” Whitehead said. “We knew we had two incredibly talented players, but that doesn’t always translate into success in doubles.
“You can’t just rely on your own talent. It’s not just you. It’s you and a partner. So one of our themes this season was trust. They had to trust each other.”
Their season kicked off in March with some predictable but minor chemistry speed bumps.
“It took some time to get used to,” Gold said. “We really had to adapt.”
By the season’s halfway point, Glebov and Gold felt they were in the flow. By sectionals, they were in peak form, aside from Glebov’s injury.
“Then it all just culminated at state,” Gold said.
Glebov and Gold lost just one set in six matches at the state tournament.
“In their minds, they knew they were winning state,” Whitehead said. “I talked to them and asked, ‘Are you ready?’ They said, ‘Yeah, we got it.’
“There was never a doubt they could win state, even though they’ve only played together for a couple of months. They believed that they were winning state.”
Glebov and Gold are far from finished.
“They have so much further to go,” Whitehead said. “I don’t think there’s a team out there that would say they’re not the favorite for next year. They’re defending champs without really knowing how to play doubles.”
Going forward, Glebov and Gold will have a deeper understanding of teamwork.
“As people, the cooperation and teamwork overall made me grow,” Glebov said. “I wasn’t very positive toward the start. But being positive and lifting each other up helped us a lot spiritually. It helped me as a team player. Since tennis isn’t a team sport, I really grew in that aspect.”
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.