Allie Fort and Ella Lester, the first Hopkinsville High girls’ doubles team to advance to the third round of the state tennis tournament in 13 years, saw their run end Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-0 loss to the tournament’s top seed Haley Klein and Laurel Slechter of Oldham County.
Fort and Lester first advanced to the state tournament as eighth-graders, winning their opening match. They lost their freshman season to COVID-19. Last year as sophomores, they won a region title and again won their opener at the state tournament.
With two wins this week, Fort and Lester became the first Hoptown tandem in over 25 years to win three straight state tournament openers.
If Klein and Slechter go on to win the state title Thursday, it will mark the third straight year that Fort and Lester would have been eliminated by the eventual state champs.
Fort and Lester discussed their opening day wins in this YSE interview.
