Triple Crown champion: Saint Andrew's senior Nico Snyder piles up state title hardware

Call him St. Nico.

And call St. Andrew’s first singles senior stud Nico Snyder a triple crown champion.

After St. Andrew’s captured the state team tennis title Thursday in Seminole County, Snyder, who stands 6-foot-8 and owns a blasting serve, wasn’t done compiling hardware.

On Friday, Snyder went on to win the state individual singles championship and the state doubles crown with partner Julian Fente at Sylvan Lake Park.

“It’s a great feeling being able to win all those matches," Snyder said via phone on the bus ride back to Boca Raton. “Nine matches in three days. Once you get to the point when it’s so close and team is pushing you, it feels great to be able to accomplish it. It wouldn’t have been possible without having the whole team behind my back, cheering me on every point.’’

In the singles finals, Snyder defeated Bradenton’s Prithvi Sudhaker, 6-4, 6-4 in temperatures that topped 90 degrees with the heat index.

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“It was a very tough match," Snyder said. “That was a match the mental side of tennis kicked in over the physical. I felt my body was exhausted. I really couldn’t last long but having my teammates helped push me to keep a few more balls in play. He’s a big server, big hitter, I tried to find ways to get around him and not through him.’’

Snyder follows in the distinguished footsteps of his older sister, Sara, who is 20 and a senior first singles player at Furman University in South Carolina. She was part of three state tennis championship teams for the Scots, won two state individual singles titles and three state doubles titles.

Originally from Puerto Rico, they settled in Boca Raton in 2017 after Hurricane Maria.

“I used to always say if his sister had his physical stature or if he had her grit, you’d have a world-class player," St. Andrew’s legendary coach Reid Rafter said. “Watching the tournament this week, Nico does have the same grit as his sister. He proved it this week. While he can be physically dominating player, to win that many matches in a row, he had to dig deep. Especially for a big guy, you get tired in this hot Florida sun. He came through like his sister did."

Snyder will continue to follow his sister’s path as he’ll be off soon to Furman on a tennis scholarship. Sara will be a senior next season.

“It’s a beautiful campus, really good tennis program and I always wanted to play on the same team as my sister," Snyder said.

Their lone opportunity to play together at St. Andrew’s was derailed when, as a freshman, Nico injured his lower back. Now he’s healthy and his serve has never been more explosive at 130 mph.

“The serve is my biggest thing," Snyder said, “to pull myself out of trouble whenever I need it. I’m not going to be able to move after the ball as well as shorter people. So I have to be able to rely on my serve. I move well for my height but I’m about 'serve plus one' to accomplish everything I have. My thing is to keep it quick and simple and get off the court quick."

“Serve plus one" is a term for putting the point away either via ace, service winner or on the first shot after the service return, a la legend Pete Sampras.

And it’s all come together on the Boca Raton campus where his tennis elevated further than had he stayed in Puerto Rico. “The level of tennis in Puerto Rico isn’t near what it is here," Snyder said. “Without my being here, I’d never get to the level I’m at. I seized the opportunity Florida has given me.

“When we were looking for schools here, my sister came here. We saw how great a tennis program it has. We wanted to win a state championship and this was the best school to accomplish that."

Fittingly, Snyder’s last high school match came with Fente as partner. They started playing doubles together in junior USTA events when they were 12.

Snyder-Fente took out Shrish Arun/Maksym Yevstakhevych (Academy at the Lakes) 6-1, 6-2 in the FHSAA doubles finals.

“Everything I’ve done on the tennis court I couldn’t have done without Julian," Snyder said. “We’ve grown together. We understand our games. I have full trust in him and he has full trust in me. The chemistry we have is what not a lot of (doubles) players have."

“After winning the team title, it was such a great feeling, it gave me a second wind for the singles and doubles," Snyder added.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Saint Andrew's tennis star Nico Snyder achieves state Triple Crown