By Marc Raimondi
Jon Raude was feeling it and it didn’t matter to him whether or not his opponent, defending champion Asika Isoh, was injured.
“I was in the zone,” the Cardozo senior said. “Only 1 percent of your life you’re in the zone. … I was at the top of my game.”
The second-seeded Raude was dominant in a 6-2 first-set victory over top-seeded Isoh, who then retired in the second set due to a lingering shoulder injury. The Boston College-bound star took home his first Mayor’s Cup title since he was in middle school Sunday at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.
“Even if he was healthy,” Raude said, “I think there’s no shot he’s gonna beat me.”
Isoh, who attends a school that doesn’t have any sports (Queens Gateway to Health Sciences High School in Jamaica), probably shouldn’t have even been playing in the tournament. He partially tore his labrum at an outside tournament two weeks ago and was actually serving underhand some of the time during the Mayor’s Cup. His father, Ben, said he told him not to compete in the tourney, which doesn’t earn any points toward his ranking. But Isoh, who is the top player in the Eastern rankings, refused.
“I just love the tournament,” he said. “I didn’t want to pull out of the Mayor’s Cup final. That wouldn’t have been right.”
The West Point-bound Isoh admitted that playing Raude when he wasn’t 100 percent was going to be tough, though he tore through the draw “with one hand,” Ben quipped.
“Jon’s too good of a player,” Isoh said. “You can’t use finesse against him. … He’s too powerful.”
And he was on Sunday. Even when it seemed like Isoh was able to return volley after volley, Raude was able to pull out rallies with an overbearing forehand. It was the type of match that has earned him his spot as No. 11 in the Eastern rankings.
“I know when I’m on,” Raude said. “When I’m on, it’s tough to beat me. And I know when I’m not on, it can be easy to beat me.”
Raude won the Mayor’s Cup in middle school and helped Cardozo to the PSAL Class A city title two years ago. But lately he hasn’t been in top form. He fell to Beacon’s Quinton Vega last month in the PSAL team championship. Winning in his final high school match, though, was something to celebrate.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “To finally win it, it’s a great way to end my high-school career.”
