- April 16, 2026
Matanzas High School sophomore Daniel Patsula won the boys No. 1 singles title with two straight-set victories at the District 4-3A tennis tournament on April 14-15 at the Southern Recreation Center in Palm Coast. Patsula advances to the Class 3A state championships as an individual.
An opposing coach said Patsula has a chance to go far at state.
“Daniel is the real deal,” Ponte Vedra coach Fredo Weiland said. “He’s a super ball striker. He has pure strokes that are smooth as melted butter.”
The 3A state tourney will be April 29-May 1 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs. Now that Patsula has booked a spot for himself, he also has a chance to help his team get there too.
The Pirates placed second as a team to qualify for regionals along with Ponte Vedra, which won the district title with 14 points. Matanzas was the runner-up with 12 points, edging out Nease, which had 11 points.
“It was very tight all the way, which we anticipated,” Matanzas coach Jens Oliva said.
Matanzas went undefeated in the regular season with one of its wins against Ponte Vedra, 5-2. Beachside finished fourth at district with 6 points. Bartram Trail and St. Augustine tied for fifth with 2 points apiece.
The Pirates will travel to District 3-3A champ Fleming Island on Tuesday, April 21, for a regional semifinal. The winner will play in the regional final on Thursday April 23 for a spot in the Class 3A state team tournament.
The Pirates won two other district titles. Stanislav Valenteychik won the No. 3 singles title, and Valenteychik and Adam Stochel Polubiec won the No. 2 doubles title.
Daniel is the real deal. He’s a super ball striker. He has pure strokes that are smooth as melted butter.”
— FREDO WEILAND, Ponte Vedra boys tennis coach
But only the district champs at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles play in the state individual tournaments. The Pirates’ No. 1 doubles team of Patsula and Owen Brady lost in the district semifinals.
At singles, Patsula defeated Ponte Vedra’s Davis Miller, 6-2, 6-1, in the district semifinals, and Nease’s William Chaves, 6-2, 6-3, in the final.
Patsula said the matches were much harder than the scores indicate.
“It took a lot of effort,” he said. “I only had two matches, and both of them were pretty difficult. The score may not look like it, but trust me, it was. I had to work for every point. I was sweating, I was even a bit lightheaded at some point because I was trying so hard.”
He had played Miller before, and he knew about Chaves, a top-40 junior player in Florida who won the district championship last year.
“I had a lot of friends tell me how to play him, so I used that my advantage,” Patsula said.
Weiland said Patsula will be a dark horse at state.
“He hasn’t been playing a ton of tournaments, but he was highly rated as a junior player,” Weiland said. “The kid has a bright future ahead of him.”
On the tennis court, Patsula tries to take advantage of his height and power.
“I’m pretty tall, so I like to hit the ball pretty big,” he said. I have a big serve, big ground strokes. I like coming to the net, being aggressive. Not so much on defense, though — it's not my thing.”
While he has won bigger tournaments in his young career, winning district was meaningful, he said.
“I wasn't too sure [what to expect],” said Patsula, a first-year high school player. “It feels good knowing that I'm the best player here.”
Valenteychik defeated Ponte Vedra’s Michael Schramm in the No. 3 singles final, 3-6, 6-3 and 10-8 in the tie break. Valenteychik and Stochel Polubiec defeated Dillon Landau and Hudson Wells of Ponte Vedra in the No. 2 doubles final, 6-3, 6-3.
In the girls district tournament, Nease won every finals match to take the title with a perfect 20 points. Ponte Vedra was second with 11 points. Both teams advanced to regionals. Matanzas finished sixth with two points.
