By Keith Barnes / Tri-State News & Sports Service, post-gazette.com
April 17, 2015
Someone was going to benefit when the PIAA altered its format to allow the top three finishers from the WPIAL in Class AAA to qualify for the state singles tournament.
As it turned out, that beneficiary was Fox Chapel Area junior Siddharth Rajupet. And he benefitted in more ways than one.
After losing to eventual champion Chad Kissell, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals, Rajupet moved into the consolation match against Upper St. Clair senior Fernando Escribens, who defaulted due to an injury in his semifinal match against Canon-McMillan junior Chris Gladden.
On the morning of the consolation match, the WPIAL contacted Fox Chapel and informed the athletic department that there was no need for Rajupet to make the trip to The Club in Monroeville for the third-place consolation match as Escribens’ Achilles’ tendon was injured too severely for him to take the court for the match.