Urbana's Tambat wins county tennis title by default

May 12—Urbana junior Shloka Tambat was awarded the Frederick County Public Schools girls tennis championship at No. 1 singles Friday evening after her opponent, Madison Warren of Thomas Johnson, walked off the court while leading by a set over a line-call dispute.

"I kind of don't know what to tell you," a stunned Tambat said while standing alongside the Fleming Avenue courts in Baker Park.

Warren, the reigning Class 3A state champion, walked off the court not long after winning the first set 6-3. She trailed 4-2 in the second set when confusion over a line call seemed to be the tipping point for her and her father, Everett.

Everett Warren, the principal at Brunswick Middle School, was already miffed over a disputed call that did not go his daughter's way toward the end of the first set.

At the time, he implored tournament director Shaun Weiss to step in and correct the call. But Weiss explained to him that he could not do anything unless the coaches of the players came to him with an unresolved dispute. That did not happen with the first-set dispute.

Players call their own lines in high school matches. Any disputes they can't resolve among themselves then go to the coaches, then a tournament official if applicable.

In the middle of the second set, Tambat struck a ball that Warren called out and even made a gesture with her finger indicating such.

But Tambat did not hear the call or see the gesture and thought she had won the point. As she was preparing to serve to begin the next point, Warren stepped forward and told her that she had called the last shot out.

That led to a moment of confusion and bickering between the players. Tambat asked Warren if she could make the calls a little louder going forward.

But Everett Warren had seen enough. He began calling for his daughter to walk off the court.

It was unclear if Madison Warren, a senior at TJ, had decided on her own to stop playing or was heeding her father's demands.

"I have never seen a player pulled off the court by a parent," said Weiss, who coaches girls tennis at Oakdale and has been running the FCPS tennis tournament for close to 20 years. "By a coach, maybe. But not a parent."

Weiss and the coaches went down to try and talk with the players. But they never got a chance.

Everett Warren said the situation was not worth upsetting his daughter's mental state as they walked past them and left, according to Weis.

Warren was crying on the shoulder of her angry father.

TJ coach Karen Murtaugh seemed at a loss for what to say.

"I don't know how to explain," Murtaugh said. "Just the calls weren't being clarified enough. It just, at the end of the day, it wasn't worth it to Madison."

Asked about her player's decision to stop playing, Murtaugh said, "I support her 100 percent. She's a great player."

Since the county tournament no longer has any bearing on the regional tournament next week, Warren's postseason goals and chance to defend her state title remain intact.

She will be able to participate in the regional tournament next week at Oakdale to qualify for states.

For Tambat, this marked her second county title after beating Warren in straight sets in the 2021 county final at Oakdale.

They did not get to play for the county title last season since it was called off due to rain.

Warren won both the meetings with Tambat last season on her way to the state title.

"I mean, I would have much rather played it out," Tambat said of Friday's match. "But ..."

Two other county girls tennis titles were awarded Friday.

Urbana's Claire Kim and Meredith Flynn won the No. 1 doubles title with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Brunswick's Zoe Razunguzwa and Denise Yongbi, and the Hawks' Sanaa Nayeem and Alejandra Sierra won the No. 3 girls doubles titles with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Walkersville's Karen Garst and Hannah Miller.

The championships at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles will be decided Monday.

Follow Greg Swatek on Twitter: @greg_swatek