Marysville High School junior Gianni Russo captured a D-I singles sectional tennis championship over the weekend.
Russo entered the tournament that was held at Hilliard Davidson High School as the No. 1 seed for the singles matches.
He began the event with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Delaware Hayes freshman Drake LaMar.
Andrew Kane, a fourth-year player from Columbus St. Charles, provided the opposition during the second round.
Russo didn’t have much trouble with that match as he scored a 6-0, 6-1 verdict.
The Monarch netter encountered Aarush Gupta, a freshman from Dublin Jerome, during his third match.
Russo persevered for a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory.
The win advanced Russo into the semifinals against another Dublin Jerome freshman, Rudy Anumula.
A 6-2, 6-0 victory sent the Marysville netter into the sectional finals.
Russo faced Tommy O’Brien, a junior from Columbus Bishop Watterson, in the championship match.
Russo earned the sectional crown with a hard-fought 6-0, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) victory.
He is the first Monarch tennis player in recent memory to claim a sectional championship.
Russo will now advance to this week’s district tournament at Upper Arlington High School.
Russo’s opening match on Wednesday will be against Shrey Shyamalan, a senior from Westerville North.
A victory would put Russo into a match the same day against the winner of the Shalilen Patel (an Olentangy Orange sophomore) vs. Nik Shough (a junior from Dublin Coffman) match.
The semifinals and finals will be held at Upper Arlington on Saturday.