When Cardozo’s Jonathan Raude rallied from a wrenching second set against Beacon’s Quinton Vega on May 15, Daniel Kandinov made as much noise as anyone else in the audience. He plays for Bayside, but he and Raude, two of the best high school tennis players in New York City, have been friends since they were eight or nine.
“If we don’t play together, we’re at the same place all the time,” Kandinov said.
On the bigger stages of tennis in Queens and the region, Raude and Kandinov are each too good to be thought of as a single unit. After press time on Tuesday, May 26, Raude was in the finals of the PSAL’s individual tournament, battling Cardozo teammate Wei Lin and possessing the top seed. His coach, Howie Arons, calls him the best player in NYC.
“It’s a constant struggle to win points against him,” Vega said. “He’s the toughest player in New York City next to me. On any given day he can beat me, and any given day I can beat him. He came up with big shots and played great.”
“He’s a very strong player,” agreed Bronx Science’s Alex Fischer, who lost to Raude in the team semifinals. “He hits shots that I don’t have. He has amazing down-the-line shots and he kept me on the move. He’s the best player I’ve faced this season.”
Kandinov, meanwhile, is the star of Bayside, a rising program indebted to its No. 1 singles player. He was ranked fifth in the individual tournament, although he pulled off an upset of third-seeded Chris Jou, of Stuyvesant, in the quarterfinals by a fairly wide margin. He is ranked 61st in the USTA Eastern Standings; Raude is 16th.
On the show court, the two juniors have made names for themselves individually, but off it, they are rarely apart. They hit together nearly every day; they’ve competed as a doubles team in regional tournaments. When only one is on the court, the other rarely strays from his cheering section. Their tennis roots are at the Bay Terrace Tennis Club, which is tellingly located about eight minutes from Cardozo High School and about two from Bayside.
“I like playing there, and there are a lot of good players there,” Raude said.
Numerous Bay Terrace connections have kept the powerhouse Cardozo and more fledgling Bayside tennis programs in lockstep. Arons coached current Bayside coach James Malhame, coached Kandinov’s two older brothers, and has known Kandinov since he was five. When the teams played each other in the regular season on April 27, Kandinov arrived early and chatted with Arons and his players. Having not been accepted to attend the school when he applied, he jokes that he is an honorary member of Arons’ squad.
All this neglects one important fact, of course: When Raude and Kandinov play each other – and they play each other often – the on-court proceedings can hardly be called a lovefest.
“We’re friends off the court, but once we get on the court with each other, we pretty much hate each other,” Kandinov said. “We both don’t like to lose to each other, since we’re always with each other. We’re pretty much rivals.”
When it has counted, Raude has typically won – a fact that Kandinov has no problem copping to. This year in particular, the Cardozo player has been dominant, recovering from a troublesome sophomore season after going undefeated as a third-singles freshman.
“I didn’t have such a good [sophomore] year. I had a lot of distractions off the court. It was tough for me to keep focused,” Raude said. “After I bounced back, I focused on tennis and my school work … I’m playing better and being more serious about it. And I’m practicing more.”
Now, he and Kandinov can both enjoy the rewards of their hard work. One of them, no doubt: getting to play fairly often at tournaments at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center.
“The courts are perfect. … It’s great to play here,” Raude said. “The greatest players have played on these courts. When I was five years old, I came here for the first time and watched my favorite player, [Patrick] Rafter, play.”
