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The cagey veteran versus the young buck. It’s a common story in sports. But one doesn’t often hear about it in high school tennis. 

When Berkeley hosted Alameda on Thursday, the No. 1 singles match pitted Berkeley senior Noah Farb against Alameda freshman Daniel Elefant. On a day that Berkeley won easily, six matches to one, the Farb-Elefant matchup was a good example of how experience helps. 

During the first set, Elefant was more than holding his own, matching Farb point for point. Late in the set, Elefant called four close shots out, and Farb objected each time. By the fourth time, Farb called for line judges to call the rest of the match. The delay and uproar appeared to get to the freshman, as he dropped the next four points and the set 7-5. Although Elefant came back strong in the second set, Farb won that one too, 6-4, to win Berkeley’s fourth match of the day, assuring the Yellowjackets a victory. 

“He made some questionable calls, but it really didn’t bother me,” Farb said. “I mostly did it to get in his head.” 

The senior-laden ’Jackets used their experience to win nearly every match against the younger Hornets. Alameda’s lone win came from No. 2 singles Hein Tu, who beat Berkeley’s Patrick Hamilton 6-1, 6-0. At No. 3 singles, Berkeley’s Nicky Baum downed Chris Chung, while Nate Simmons claimed a 6-3, 6-1 victory for Berkeley at No. 4 singles. 

“They’re a good young team, and I was impressed with them today,” Berkeley coach Dan Seguin said after the match. “But once our guys got on track and started to execute, we took over.” 

On the doubles side, Berkeley’s top team, Gabe Zeldan and George Thomas, won easily at 6-4, 6-2. The second team, Quincy Moore and Ben Chambers, looked in danger when they lost the first set, 1-6, to Vincent Chu and Ellis Ng, but came back to win the next two sets 6-0 and 6-1. Third team Chris Lee and Jonah Schrogin won in three sets to finish the match.