Delbarton tennis earns Morris County Tournament title again

Kaushal had advanced to a second singles semi as a freshman. But last spring, he was burned out and stepped away from the game for a few months.

Kaushal returned to the Mendham team, and was buoyed at the final by a cheering section that included Jee, senior Kyle Murray, and Parsippany sophomore Anish Gupta. Kaushal had defeated Gupta – the first Red Hawks boy to advance to the second day of the MCT – in a semi, then gave him a ride to Delbarton for the last round.

"I lost the enjoyment for the game, but in the end, it just turned into a long break," Kaushal said. "I don't really focus on winning or losing anymore. ... I didn't think about (the racket switches). I kept playing my game and stayed positive."

Junior Adi Somaiya plays tennis for Delbarton.

Delbarton junior Adi Somaiya claimed third singles in a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 marathon against Chatham freshman Elias Bruu-Syversen, whose self-talk could be heard far beyond the court. Somaiya, a Chatham resident, had the clinching point for Delbarton at second doubles in the MCT two years ago, but stepped away from the school team as a sophomore to focus on tournament tennis.

"Every year, people think it's going to be easy for us. But every year, it comes down to one point," said Weldon, who is 16-0 with Lee this spring. "It comes down to who wants it more. Universal Tennis Rating can mean a lot in other matches, but at counties, it's a battle of wits. Even if it's not the prettiest, we do what we have to to get it done."

Team scores

Delbarton 23; Chatham 20; Mendham 16; Montville 11; Morristown Beard and Mountain Lakes 9; Morris Hills and Morris Knolls 8; West Morris, Morristown and Randolph 7; Madison 6; Parsippany and Pequannock 5; Kinnelon, Mount Olive and Parsippany Hills 3; Roxbury 2; Whippany Park, Hanover Park and Boonton 1.

Final round results

First singles: Kabir Kaushal (Mendham) def. Davis Zhang (Chatham) 6-1, 4-6, 6-0; Second singles: Aiden Paul (Delbarton) def. Roger Lin (Chatham) 6-3, 6-2; Third singles: Adi Somaiya (Delbarton) def. Elias Bruu-Syversen (Chatham) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; First doubles: Hayden Lee and Hugh Weldon (Delbarton) def. Aiden Wong and Ranvir Iyengar (Chatham) 7-6 (7-5), 7-5; Second doubles: Chase Eagan and Alex Choi (Delbarton) def. Chris Allen and Grayson Rivero (Chatham) 6-2, 6-4.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Delbarton tennis earns 2026 Morris County Tournament title