At the highest level of boys high school tennis, Tucson can more than hold its own with almost any American city of comparable size or larger, Phoenix included.
Not only have Tucson teams won 86 boys state championships (all levels), but its legacy includes some of the biggest names in Arizona prep tennis history: Catalina’s Mark Hardy, Tucson High’s Bill Lenoir, Jim Dye, Jim Grabb and Fred Lobdell, Catalina’s Robb Salant, Palo Verde’s Carlos and Dominic Burmudez, Sahuaro’s Mike Lee and Rincon’s Sadhakar Kosaraju, to name a few.
What doesn’t compute is that until 2004, boys tennis powerhouse Salpointe Catholic was known more for losing than winning.
It was like the successful Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1940s and 1950s stuck behind the dynasty of the New York Yankees.
One of the state’s most prominent tennis coaches, Salpointe’s John Condes, was seemingly buried behind Phoenix juggernaut Brophy Prep forever.
The Lancers finished No. 2 in the boys state championships in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2002. Their misfortune was such that in the ‘91 state championships, Salpointe lost to Phoenix Central High School, which illegally used two 21-year-old foreign players.
But even now, three decades after Central’s 1991 championship was voided, Salpointe officially remains listed as the runner-up. The Arizona Interscholastic Association has yet to do the right thing and label the ‘91 Lancers as state champions.
There were bigger issues than cheating. There was always Brophy, which ruled boys prep tennis in this state the way John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins ruled college basketball from 1964-75. When the 2004 state tournament began, Brophy had won eight consecutive state championships — five against Salpointe — and were strongly favored to again beat Condes’ Lancers, who were undefeated.
But on April 28, 2004, Condes and the Lancers chopped down Brophy, 5-2. Hard to believe, but it was the school’s first boys tennis championship since 1972.
“I’ve been on the losing end, so this is incredible,” said Condes, a former Santa Rita tennis standout who coached at Salpointe from 1988-2018.
The stunning victory over Brophy launched the greatest era of boys tennis in Salpointe history; Condes coached the Lancers to five consecutive state titles, going 98-2 in dual matches, which included it-is-no-fluke repeat victories over Brophy in the 2006 and 2011 state finals.
Salpointe’s success as a boys tennis program has been more of a collective than a superstar-will-show-the-way success. Over 70 years, only five Lancers have won individual state championships: Yash Parikh, Cameron Ahari, Tommy McGeorge, Brian Jackson and Bruce Bueno.
That’s how the Lancers uncrowned Brophy in ‘04. Senior Peter Zimmer, who was the Star’s boys tennis player of the year, did not win the state singles title. He was No. 2. But he became a leader of a lineup that included freshmen Ian Mordaunt and C.J. Browning as well as McGeorge, who would go on to win 126 career matches as a Iowa Hawkeye.
Senior Peter Zimmer, the Star’s Player of the Year in boys tennis, helped lead Salpointe to a 2004 state championship.
“Peter’s one of the best I’ve ever seen,” said Condes. “He is the guy they all want to be like. His influence on the team really makes my job easier.”
In the tense moments of the ‘04 victory over Brophy, McGeorge required three hours to win the No. 2 singles match, clinching the championship.
“Tommy never, ever stops fighting,” said Condes. “I could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t going to lose that match.”
Said Zimmer, who went on to play at Arizona after being Salponte’s No. 1 player for four seasons: “We were on a mission all season.”
Retiring with eight state championships, Condes joined the elite tennis coaches of boys Arizona prep history. Brophy’s Bill Woods won 12 straight championships in one stretch. After that, Catalina Foothills coach Robb Salant and Canyon del Oro’s Jose Sanchez, both with nine consecutive titles, created a formidable Tucson challenge.
“People would always seem to say we had a great year,” Condes told me in 2020. “But, no. They weren’t great. We lost. Yes, we came close, but it was very frustrating.”
But in 2004 and thereafter, championships and Salponte’s boys tennis program became one and the same.
