Sasha Belaya, shown at age 9, when she was a ball kid for a pro event at the Kiwi Tennis Club in Indian Harbour Beach. Now, a junior, she won a state individual title Thursday.
Tennis ball and racket
Viera High junior Sasha Belaya won the Class 3A girls individual singles tennis title on Thursday at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs.
Belaya, the top seed, defeated second-seeded Geetha Velusamy of Tarpon Springs East Lake, 6-2, 6-3. She had begun her day with a 6-4, 6-1 semifinal win over Bin Zheng of Miami Doral.
Belaya was also playing with teammate Izzie Diaz in the doubles final in the late afternoon. The two beat Gabriela Castello and Katherine Jakeway of Ponte Vedra Nease, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-1) to win that title.
Merritt Island’s Albert Go, the 2015 overall 2A state boys champion, fell in the semifinal round of 3A individual singles on Thursday to Tom Jaworski of North Miami Morning, 6-3, 6-4. Morning went on to win the title.
The previous FHSAA practice of having the individual singles champion — a bracket of the state’s No. 1 singles district champions — play the No. 1 singles bracket winner from team competition, was discontinued. Go won that match last year, only the third Brevard player to do so.
In Class 1A girls individual doubles at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford, Holy Trinity’s Ashleigh Kutryb and Morgan McCarthy were defeated by Annalise Klopfer and Gabriela Pinero of Clearwater Central Catholics, 6-3, 6-3.
Contact McCallum at 321-242-3698 or bmccallum@floridatoday.com. Follow him @Brian_McCallum on Twitter and at facebook.com/FLtoday.brianmccallum.