One day after leading his team to the state team title, Saint Andrew’s junior first singles Rafa Bote kept on winning.
Bote added his second straight state 1A individual singles championships and his first state doubles crown to pull off high school tennis’ elusive triple crown on May 1 at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford.
In the state finals Friday, Bote beat Miami County Day’s Lorenzo Lopez 6-1, 6-1. He also teamed up with Colin Wheat to win the state doubles championship.
That’s three titles after helping Saint Andrew’s squeak out a 4-3 boys team championship over rival True North of Miami.
Only two other Saint Andrew’s players have copped the triple crown – Sarah Snyder did it back-to-back in 2020-2021 and her brother Nico Snyder accomplished the triple treat in 2024.
“It’s pretty awesome in this division with the kids he beat,” Saint Andrew’s coach Reid Rafter said. “He’s always been an incredible player and big ball striker, but he’s gotten stronger and more physical. His newfound power adds to his solid, nuanced game and you have an incredibly complete player.’’
In a space of 29 hours, Bote played six matches – a team semifinal (singles/doubles, a team final (singles/doubles), the individual singles final and individual doubles final.
Bote will probably have his pick of Division I programs. “He’s talking to some of the best tennis programs in the country right now,” Rafter said.
On Thursday, the Scots girls and boys narrowly edged True North of Miami by identical 4-3 scores. True North girls was going for its fourth straight state title.
Rafter was especially pleased at the team result as the bulk of True North’s roster is made up of online students who don’t attend the school.
“The landscape of high school tennis has changed in recent years with schools fielding teams of home-school students,” Rafter said. “It feels great to win as a real high-school team with full-time high-school students who attend the school they play for.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Saint Andrew’s tennis star Rafa Bote achieves rare state triple crown
Reporting by Marc Berman, Special to The Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
