Emmaus senior Matt FitzMaurice would have liked to finish out his senior season with a second straight District 11 Championship and a return trip to states. Instead, it will be his best friend and rival, Nick Kshatri of Parkland who will head to states after recording a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) win over FitzMaurice.

The loss by FitzMaurice was a turnaround from last year’s district final when he downed Kshatri. Even though that match was good, their battle as seniors was a classic, lasting over 2 ½ hours.

“One day, Matt will win and the next day, Nick will win,” said Parkland coach Mike Hingston.

FitzMaurice had to battle through three deuces in the first set to take a 6-5 lead, only to see Kshatri use his big serve to tie the set and go to a tiebreaker. Kshatri dominated play in the tiebreaker and took the first set.

It looked for a while like Kshatri might take a straight-set victory, which would have been unusual for the two senior players. Kshatri again used a strong serve and had a 4-2 lead in the second set, but FitzMaurice wasn’t done and battled all the way back, winning 6-2 to tie the match at one set a piece.

“He came out and played unbelievable,” said FitzMaurice. “I tried everything to slow him down, which I did in the second set. Then, he took it to another level in the third set and got the win. He’s a great player and I’m actually happy for him.”

The third set saw FitzMaurice leading 5-3, but Kshatri cut it to 5-4, again with a daunting serve. While FitzMaurice served well, Kshatri was able to break his serve and tie the match 5-5 in the third set.

Again though, FitzMaurice wasn’t done and returned the favor, breaking Kshatri’s serve for a 6-5 lead before Kshatri raised the stakes with another service break and a 6-6 tie.

The tiebreaker was when Kshatri really kicked it into high gear and again, dominated, taking a 7-2 win over FitzMaurice.

“I don’t know that I could have played much better,” said the Emmaus senior. “He just put on an impressive performance and you just have to tip your hat to him.

“We’ve had a lot of great matches, and I’m going to miss that, but it’s nice to go out like this having both played at our highest level.”

As for any advice that FitzMaurice would give his friend as he travels to the Hershey Racquet Club for his first round match against the third-place finisher from District 7, it’s a simple plan.

“Not that he needs my advice, but I would just say have fun and enjoy the moment,” said FitzMaurice. “He’s a great player and I’ll be cheering for him.”

Next up is the continuation of the District 11 Team Championship, which opened with Emmaus downing Bangor in the opening round on Saturday. With Parkland’s win over Whitehall, another showdown between FitzMaurice and Kshatri will take place in the semi-finals when the two teams meet. District 11 team finals will be played Thursday at Lehigh University. FitzMaurice and Kshatri also have a match to play to determine the EPC Champion, but that match was postponed for a second time on Monday because of bad weather. There is no immediate make-up date set for the conference match.