Brumit's dominate Ridges Open play

By Matt Hill
STAR STAFF
mhill@starhq.com

   JONESBOROUGH-- The Chick-Fil-A Ridges Open on Saturday at the Ridges Golf and Country Club was more like a Brumit family get together.
   Elizabethton's Chris, Curtis and Jessica Brumit showed why tennis in Elizabethton is in good hands.
   Chris Brumit started off the day by advancing to the semifinals of the Boys 12's with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Andrew Heise.
   Chris will play in the semifinals this morning, with the finals set for this afternoon.
   "I don't think I was hitting as good as I usually do today," Chris said. "But it ended up working."
   Chris enjoys playing the big local tournaments like the Ridges, but also plays in state events.
   "I usually go around playing a couple of local tournaments every year," Chris said. "Well, essentially about five or six. "Then I'll go down to one of the state tournaments to get my ranking."
   Chris is already a pretty solid player, but he still thinks that he can get better.
   "I need to work on my serve a lot, and my backhand, too." Chris said.
   Jessica Brumit won her round-robin match in the girls 10's division . She easily defeated Lauren Arp 6-0, 6-0.
   "She's probably going to be the best," said older brother Curtis about the family.
   As for Curtis, he ran into a tough customer in his Boys 14's semifinal with Kingsport's Josh Davis. Davis defeated Curtis 6-3, 6-0.
   "He's ranked 24th in the state, and I'm ranked 66th," Curtis said. "He should have beaten me. He's the first seed. He'll probably go on and win the whole tournament."
   Davis was firing big serves and powerful returns against Curtis, showing why he is one of the state's top prospects. But Curtis felt like he held his own against Davis.
   "I played probably the best I've played in a long time," Curtis said. "It's just he overpowered me."
   Brumit plans to bulk up in hopes of competing with heavy hitters like Davis when he arrives at Elizabethton High School in August.
   "I guess I'll have to start lifting weights," Curtis said. "I'm going to play football, so I'll be lifting weights like every day there. I'll be getting stronger. I just need to work on my strokes, and make sure I don't hit it off the frame as much."
   The future of Elizabethton High School tennis was definitely on hand at the Ridges Saturday. And so was the present.
   Elizabethton High School's top boys player participated in the event. David Reece advanced to the semifinals before bowing out in that round.
   The rising senior won his Boys 16's quarterfinal match over Brandon Taylor Saturday morning 6-2, 6-4 on the Ridges clay. Reece then fell in the semifinals at Liberty Bell to Nat Powers 6-1, 6-1.
   "It feels good to win a match," Reece said. "I just got outplayed in that match just now (against Powers).
   Reece felt like he played really well in the morning, but thought playing twice in the heat just took the wind out of him.
   "I had a little more energy in me," Reece said. "I felt like I played a lot better on the clay.
   "I was kind of drained in that last match," Reece said. "I felt kind of tired."
   Johnson County Longhorn standout Adam Cornett also competed in the Boys 16's. Cornett advanced to the quarterfinals with a win on Friday, but then lost to top-seeded Preston Snead 6-1, 6-2.
   Like Reece, Cornett is gearing up for his final season of high school tennis.
   Cornett is hoping to get ready by playing tournaments like this one.
   "I'm just trying to get ready, and do my best to get prepared for next season," Cornett said.
   For the rest of Saturday's results, see scoreboard.