{"id":23229,"date":"2026-06-12T00:25:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/in-five-set-thriller-norths-johnny-wastcoat-delivers-tigers-tennis-to-state-final-newtonbeacon-org\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T00:25:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:25:39","slug":"in-five-set-thriller-norths-johnny-wastcoat-delivers-tigers-tennis-to-state-final-newtonbeacon-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/in-five-set-thriller-norths-johnny-wastcoat-delivers-tigers-tennis-to-state-final-newtonbeacon-org\/","title":{"rendered":"In five-set thriller, North\u2019s Johnny Wastcoat delivers Tigers\u2019 tennis to state final – newtonbeacon.org"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Johnny Wastcoat returns a shot against Lexington in the semifinals of the MIAA Division 1 tennis tournament at Newton South HS on June 10, 2026. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Newton North\u2019s Johnny Wastcoat had the match\u2014and a berth in the Division I tennis state finals\u2014on his racquet. But to win that last point, he had to compete against his opponent from Lexington, as well as the doubts in his own head.
\u201cI was so nervous,\u201d said Wastcoat, who plays first singles. \u201cBut I realized quickly that if I am just guiding the ball and not hitting through the shot that I\u2019m going to lose. That will be the worst outcome. So I decided on that last point to hit through every ball, and knowing my game and knowing how hard I\u2019ve practiced, that it will go in. And that\u2019s what happened.\u201d
Up 7-6 in the fifth set tiebreaker, Wastcoat served. When a return from Lexington\u2019s Justin Chen went long, the Tiger celebrated an epic come from-behind victory by throwing his racquet to the ground before running off the court to be mobbed by fans and teammates from Newton North.
The win put Newton North in the state finals, where they will face cross-town rivals Newton South on Saturday.
The match had not started in North\u2019s favor, with Lexington recording two quick wins in the doubles competitions. To win the match\u2014and to stay in the tournament\u2014North would have to sweep the three singles matches.
In storybook fashion, that\u2019s exactly what happened. Playing third singles, Alex Fine scored North\u2019s first victory of the day, pumping his fist repeatedly as the result was becoming clear. Then Collin Hwang gutted out leg cramps to win his second singles match.
The score was now 2-2. All eyes turned to first singles\u2014the only match still going, and the most consequential too, as the result would determine who would advance, and whose season would be over.
With the match entering its third hour, Wastcoat took a 5-3 lead in the fifth set and had an opportunity to serve out the match. Chen broke him\u2014successfully fending off one match point\u2014and then came back from 0-40 to hold serve in the following game, pulling even at 5-5.
Wastcoat credited his mental coaches with giving him the skills to keep fighting even when those early opportunities to win the match slipped away.
\u201cJust a goldfish memory at that point,\u201d he said. \u201cYou just have to forget. You know, he saved match points but I knew there was going to be another one, so it was like ok, he got that one, and I\u2019ll have another one, another one, another one.\u201d
Chen scored the first point in the tiebreaker, getting huge cheers from the Lexington players and coaches. But when Wastcoat responded with four straight points of his own, Newton North\u2019s cheering section went wild, beginning to taste victory. The tiebreaker was knotted at 6 before Wastcoat scored the final two points to send Tiger players and fans into delirium.
After the festivities had concluded, Wastcoat reflected on the one match that remained.
\u201cNewton North vs Newton South is going to be huge for the state championship,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll go to practice, everyone will work on the game, and we\u2019ll hope for the best result.\u201d
Collin Hwang hits a backhand in his second singles match. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Alex Fine hits a serve. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Alex Fine hydrates during a break in play. The match was originally scheduled for 4pm, but was moved up to 2pm due to expected inclement weather. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Johnny Wastcoat pumps up the fans in the fifth set. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Collin Hwang hits a return. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Johnny Wastcoat celebrates after winning the fourth set to draw even, 2-2, in his first singles match. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Johnny Wastcoat celebrates with his teammates after Newton North defeated Lexington to advance to the finals of the MIAA Division 1 tennis tournament. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Alex Fine celebrates his victory in third singles. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Johnny Wastcoat serves in the fifth set. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Fans ringed the first singles tennis court to see who would advance to the Division 1 tennis championship. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
Newton North students cheer for Johnny Wastcoat during his first singles match. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton Beacon
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Support nonprofit, nonpartisan news in Newton.\u00a0GIVE TODAY.Johnny Wastcoat returns a shot against Lexington in the semifinals of the MIAA Division 1 tennis tournament at Newton South HS on June 10, 2026. (c) Burt Granofsky\/Newton BeaconNewton North\u2019s Johnny Wastcoat had the match\u2014and a berth in the Division I tennis state finals\u2014on his racquet. But to win […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}