Area boys tennis: Brown advances

Lake City senior Kurt Brown prolonged his season by winning a pair of grueling three-set matches Thursday in the Section 1A individual tournament. He advanced to the semifinals where he'll meet St. Paul Academy and Summit School's John Hill.

Hill, the No. 2 seed, defeated Brown 6-0, 6-0 in the section team tournament Wednesday.

Brown was awarded the No. 3 seed and he opened with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 over Luca Farrugia, Rochester Lourdes' No. 4 singles player. He followed that up with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 victory against Waseca's John Lewer.

Brown had to contend with cramping, blood blisters, swirling winds at Rochester Century and an erratic serve during his matches. Tigers coach Dave Toole estimated Brown consumed eight bananas to combat the cramps and Brown told his coach he double faulted about 20 times.

"He fought very hard," Toole said. "He did a very good job."

The section semifinals begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the West Hill Tennis & Fitness Center in Owatonna, Minn.

Lake City's three other entrants lost their opening-round match.

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