Tumwater freshman Colton Smith wins 2A singles title in straight sets

Tumwater High School freshman Colton Smith won the Class 2A boys singles title over Sehome’s Shane Lynette on Saturday afternoon at Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.

Smith, who is the third-ranked player in Washington according to TennisRecruiting.net, beat Lynette in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to win his first high school crown.

"It was incredible," Smith said. "The matches were a whole bunch of fun. It was some good competition there at the end."

He was the only athlete from the South Sound to win a tennis title this season.

“He played him really strong and played his own game,” Tumwater coach Jim Click said.

"Once I got the first break, I had a lot more confidence going into it," Smith said. "I was serving really well, and I got another break at the end to win the first set.

"The start of the second set, I had all of the momentum and played really well, stepping in and dictating the points."

Click said Smith capitalized on ball placement, read angles well and kept Lynette off-balance in the decisive match.

“He really works on his tennis, and he’s also a great athlete,” Click said of Smith. “When you put those two things together, you have something really special.”

Smith did not lose a set this season, Click said, and breezed through the opening day of the tournament Friday.

He shut out Clarkston’s Colton Tenwick (6-0, 6-0) and Sedro-Wolley’s Kyle Beuse (6-0, 6-0).

In the semifinals Saturday morning, Smith worked past Selah’s Jared Kieser (6-3, 6-1).

Smith’s aggressive approach on the court could net him an impressive career should he continue with high school tennis the next three seasons, Click said.

Smith comes to the T-Birds not long after another tennis prodigy, Ty Gentry, who now plays at Oregon.

Gentry won three consecutive 2A state singles titles between 2014-16 — one with Capital, two with Tumwater.

Click said Smith has the potential to exceed what Gentry, who was the first Tumwater tennis player to win back-to-back titles, accomplished in high school.

“I would think if he continues with Tumwater, that he would be one of those four-in-a-row type kids,” Click said of Smith. “He’s just going to get better.”

CLASS 3A

Timberline’s Angela Schuster, who won a 4A state singles title two years ago as a sophomore, came up just short in her bid for a 3A title in Kennewick.

Schuster, a University of Portland commit, lost in straight sets to Seattle Prep freshman Amelia Asfaw (6-2, 6-3) in the finals at the Tri-City Court Club.

Schuster worked her way into the semifinals Friday, and ripped by Interlake’s Abby Nash (6-1, 6-0) early Saturday morning to advance to the deciding match.

She leaves Timberline with four podium finishes. She was fourth (3A) as a junior and fifth (4A) as a freshman.

In boys doubles, North Thurston’s Michael Campbell and Thomas Sui pushed their finals match to three sets, but fell to Lake Washington duo Shubhu Purohit and Nedim Suko (6-4, 4-6, 6-2) at Kamiakin High School.

Campbell and Sui beat Lakeside of Seattle’s Tate Fuller and Jack Delafield in the semifinals earlier in the morning to advance.

This story was originally published May 26, 2018 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Tumwater freshman Colton Smith wins 2A singles title in straight sets."