Ramstein’s Tristan Chandler defended his singles title at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Chandler defeated Marymount’s Leonardo Proietti in an epic final, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany – Spectators and athletes at the DODEA European tennis championships were treated to a match for the ages here Saturday as Ramstein’s Tristan Chandler and Marymount’s Leonardo Proietti battled in three grueling sets for the singles title.
Chandler and Proietti – the No. 1 and No.2 seeds, respectively – held court inside the T2 Sports Health Club for more than 21/2 hours, playing long after all the other final matches were over.
After falling behind 3-2 in the third set, Chandler prevailed to defend his 2021 championship with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win.
“That was probably the toughest match I’ve played in a long time,” said an exhausted but elated Chandler after it was over.
“It feels spectacular,” the sophomore said.
The epic battle with the 14-year-old Proietti, playing in his first DODEA championship tourney, at times grew boisterous. Both players yelled with excitement when a rally went their way, and sometimes in frustration, when their shots were called out or sailed into the net.
Every point was hard fought.
“Before the match, I had no idea how this was going to go,” Chandler said. After watching Proietti ‘s early matches at Europeans, “’I thought OK, I probably got this.’ Then when I saw him play Xander, I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be tough.’”
On Friday, Proietti defeated Chandler’s former teammate, Kaiserslautern’s Alexander Brunk and the tournament’s third seed, 8-0, in pool play.
Chandler took the first set against Proietti in the finals, but Proietti stormed back to take the second set to extend the match to a tie breaker.
Proietti took the lead in the third set, going up 3-2 with a 40-15 advantage on serve. That’s when the momentum started to shift. Chandler won the game. He went on to go up 4-3 with an ace and never looked back.
Afterwards, Proietti was gracious in defeat.
“He’s an awesome player … he’s physically stronger than me, I can say he was better than me today,” he said.
Proietti expects to represent Marymount again in next year’s European championships. “And I will win next year,” he said with confidence.
Kaiserslautern’s Stella Schmitz won her first singles title at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Schmitz defeated Ramstein’s Kassianna von Eicken, 6-0, 6-0. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein’s Kassianna von Eicken sends the ball over the net during her finals match at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Von Eicken was runner-up in singles to Kaiserslautern’s Stella Schmitz. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount’s Leonardo Proietti lobs the ball during a battle with Ramstein’s Tristan Chandler for the singles title at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. Chandler prevailed against Proietti in an endurance match, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount’s Leonardo Proietti (in white) and Ramstein’s Tristan Chandler hug after an epic finals in the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Chandler won the singles title, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Kasierslautern’s Abigail Hover, left, and Alisa Dietzel won their first doubles title at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Hover and Dietzel defeated Stuttgart’s Devin and Kiera French, 6-1, 6-3. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern’s Alisa Dietzel paired up with Abigail Hover to win the doubles title at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart’s Noah Shive returns the ball during the finals for doubles at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Shive and teammate Zachary Call went undefeated this season en route to winning their first doubles title. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart’s Zachary Call, left, and Noah Shive won their first doubles title at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Call and Shive defeated Nick Cronk and Ben Avalos of Naples in three sets, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart’s Kiera French, left, and Devin French finished runners-up in doubles to Kaiserslautern at the DODEA European tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella’s Charlize Caro chases down the ball in her third-place match against Marymount’s Asalei Caffarelli at the DODEA European tennis championships on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Wiesbaden, Germany. Caro fell to Caffarelli, 8-5. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
Naples’ Nick Cronk, left, and Ben Avalos put up a strong showing at the DODEA European tennis championships in Wiesbaden, Germany. The duo finished second to Stuttgart in doubles, despite entering the tourney seeded No. 6. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)
New champions were crowned in the other final matches.
Kaiserslautern’s Stella Schmitz defeated Ramstein’s Kassianna von Eicken in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, following in the footsteps of her older sister, Aiva Schmitz. Now a freshman on the Division I University of Minnesota women’s tennis team, Aiva Schmitz won the singles title three times at the same venue.
“Kassie’s a really good player,” Stella Schmitz said. “I definitely had to bring my game to the court to win. I have two more years (to play for DODEA). Hopefully, I can keep it going for the family name.”
The Kaiserslautern doubles team of Abigail Hover and Alisa Dietzel also won, beating Stuttgart sisters Devin and Kiera French, 6-1, 6-3. Hover was half of Kaiserslautern’s winning doubles team last year when she played with Stella Schmitz. This year, the tournament felt much more intense, with more teams competing now that pandemic restrictions were lifted, Hover said.
“We played our best tennis,” she said of the match.
The boys doubles final between No. 1 Stuttgart and No. 6 Naples went to three sets. Stuttgart’s Noah Shive and Zachary Call survived a scare by Nick Cronk and Ben Avalos, who exceeded their own expectations in making it to the tournament’s final round. After taking the first set, Shive and Call faltered in the second set before closing it out in the third.
“We definitely fell apart” in the second set, Shive said.
“We forgot our strategy,” Call said, adding he and Shive had to regroup and communicate better to prevail.
“It was the hardest match of the year,” Call said.
In the third-place singles matches, Naples’ Sam Stutzman beat Kaiserslautern’s Brunk, 8-1, while Marymount’s Asalei Caffarelli fended off Sigonella’s Charlize Caro, 8-5. Vicenza’s Sam Grady and Andrew Reed defeated Ramstein’s Eric and Sean Kim, 8-4, to take third in boys’ doubles. Vicenza freshmen Addie Wilson and Annika Svenson won their third-place doubles match, 8-2, against Naples’ Talia Lord and Liliana Stutzman.
Team results
Boys
Division I
1. Ramstein 2. Stuttgart. 3. Kaiserslautern
Division II
1. Naples 2. Marymount 3. Vicenza
Division III
1. Alconbury 2. Brussels and Hohenfels (tie)
Girls
Division I
1. Kaiserslautern 2. Ramstein 3. Stuttugart
Division II
1. Vicenza 2. Marymount 3. Naples
Division III
1. Sigonella 2. Brussels 3. Spangdahlem
DODEA European tennis championships
Saturday at Wiesbaden, Germany
Boys
Singles
Championship
Tristan Chandler (Ramstein) def. Leonardo Proietti (Marymount) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Third
Samuel Stutzman (Naples) def. Alexander Brunk (Kaiserslautern) 8-1
Doubles
Championship
Noah Shive/Zachary Call (Stuttgart) def. Nick Cronk/Ben Avalos (Naples) 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
Third
Sam Grady/Andrew Reed (Vicenza) def. Eric Kim/Sean Kim Ramstein 8-4
Girls
Singles
Championship
Stella Schmitz (Kaiserslautern) def. Kassianna von Eicken 6-0, 6-0
Third
Asalei Caffarelli (Marymount) def. Charlize Caro (Sigonella) 8-5
Doubles
Championship
Abigail Hover/Alisa Dietzel (Kaiserslautern) def. Devin French/Kiera French (Stuttgart) 6-1, 6-3
Third
Addie Wilson/Annika Svenson (Vicenza) def. Talia Lord/Liliana Stutzman (Naples) 8-2