Last week’s District 11 singles tennis final featured a battle of champions.

Defending district champ Derek Yao of Parkland took on 2024 winner Chris Stone (Emmaus) in the title match.

The Trojan sophomore finished off a dominant performance at districts with a 6-1, 6-3 win over the Hornet junior in the tournament final, held last Thursday at Freedom High School.

“Derek is special,” said Parkland head coach Lee Rizzotto. “He’s very efficient. He can hit every shot. He’s very patient. He’s really gifted.

“When you play somebody like Chris, he’s going to get some power points in for sure. He’s an unbelievable player. To beat him in straight sets, I couldn’t ask for more from Derek.”

It marked the first meeting of the two players this season.

“I wasn’t able to face Chris in the league or in EPCs,” said Yao. “Our first meeting of the season being at this stage is special. I didn’t know how I was going to do against him. He’s a very competitive player. I’m very satisfied with how I played today.

“I was getting to every ball. I set myself mentally to just be a wall and make sure he had to play his shots in order to get points.”

Yao, who is unbeaten this season, was the top seed in the district tournament and won all four of his matches in straight sets.

He opened the tournament last Monday, April 20, with a first-round win over unseeded Logan Ritter (Freedom), 6-0, 6-1. He beat No. 9 seed Alexander Ahnert (Southern Lehigh) in the quarterfinal round, 6-1, 6-1.

Semifinals and finals were postponed from Wednesday to Thursday because of weather. When play got underway Thursday Yao shut out No. 5 seed Aarush Makwanna (Easton), 6-0, 6-0.

“He only gave up three points that entire match,” said Rizzotto, “and two of those he hit the top of the net.”

The final saw Yao jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before Stone got on the board in the fifth game of the set.

In the second set, both players held serve until Yao broke Stone in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and held in the final game to end the match.

“When you’re playing a power guy like [Stone], you can get impatient and play into his hands,” said Rizzotto. “Derek was moving him around a lot, trying to slow him down. Sticking to his game plan was probably his biggest asset today.”