Max Golubenko’s stellar run for the Manhasset boys’ tennis team is coming to an end as the senior will be graduating later this month.
Since joining the program during his freshman year, Golubenko has succeeded at a high level, most notably coming in first place at the Nassau County Championships. Despite being the No. 1 seed, Golubenko talked about his anxious preparation for the big tournament and how he has always tried to remain humble despite expectations.
“I wasn’t exactly expecting to win,” said Golubenko. “Like I wanted to win and I knew with my skill set that I 100% could win, but I wasn’t like going into it telling my friends or my family, ‘Oh yeah I’m gonna win this whole thing so easily’ or ‘no one can beat me,’ because I was really close to losing in the counties anyway. But it was not easy to end up winning it. I tried to stay humble before and even after I won. I was really happy, but I couldn’t really force myself to express it because I was so tired and cramping.”
Golubenko’s win was the first time since 1984 that Manhasset has had a Nassau County singles champion. With the grueling tournament over, Golubenko also expressed some shock after taking home the title.
“I’ve won some tournaments and gone far but then I’d lose in the semifinals to people who are like higher rated,” Golubenko said. “I wasn’t surprised that I was able to do this, so not surprising that I won but just surprised I was able to keep that energy up throughout the tournament.”
Much of Golubenko’s success can be explained by his support system, which he says has helped get him to where he is today.
“My parents have been supporting me this whole time and I’m just really thankful for that,” Golubenko said. “Especially my dad. Before I got my license, he’s been driving me to tournaments, taking me to practice everywhere, talking to all the coaches and he just really helped me get to where I am today. My dad sometimes records the matches, he’d take notes and I guess that really helped, even though he doesn’t really play tennis. He had a good analysis of the game and same with my mom. She couldn’t come to tournaments as much, but she was always very supportive.”
Golubenko also described his relationship with his older brother and how his different approach still helped him grow on and off the court.
“My older brother…he’s always supported me but in a sort of mean way,” Golubenko said. “He plays tennis, too, so he was like, ‘Oh that was a good match, but I can still beat you’ or ‘you did it this way, but I can do this better than you.” So it was definitely good because he pushed me a lot.”
From the county championship, Golubenko then set his sights on the New York State Championship. Out of 32 participants, Golubenko made it all the way to the semifinals, finishing in fourth place.
His coach, Eileen Cuneo, talked about Golubenko’s run in the tournament.
“Getting to the states, it was very clear he wanted to get to the finals,” said Cuneo. “He wanted to go as far as he could and it was a long weekend with rain delays and other things that were uncontrollable. But with each win, he was that much closer to what his objective was.”
The semifinal match took place over two days, after starting at 9 p.m. Saturday and then called for rain at 11 p.m.
“They made the decision, both of those players, to come back the next morning. Not easy to have that split and do that third set the following morning, but that was a hard match and loss,” Golubenko’s coach said.
Since first joining the team, Cuneo knew he had what it takes to make an impact. She touched on his growth through his high school career.
“Coming into high school it was very clear he had a passion and a love for the game,” Cuneo said. “Certainly, even in that first season, he worked at it, he was dedicated. Even at that level and at that time, you could see some of that leadership coming through that commitment that everyone else was seeing as well. But I have to say that over the last couple of years, his sophomore and junior year especially, it really became very apparent that he had increased offseason training, he had incorporated not just tennis, but strength training, it was really the entire package. It also became clear that he was focused on playing after high school, so that really was something he figured out.”
Golubenko highlighted how Cuneo’s belief in him helped him overcome early mental setbacks and how it made for a fitting conclusion to his senior season.
“Coach [Cuneo] has helped me a lot,” Golubenko said. “I was going to try out in eighth grade actually and I was standing there at the courts waiting to check in. And I just didn’t believe in myself at all and I was really nervous about it and I just ended up going home and not trying out.
“That’s how mentally weak I was, but starting in ninth grade, coach just believed in me and starting senior year, every match I’ve played, she just kept saying and repeating that she believes in me and that I have the skillset to win, make it far and that definitely helped. She’s played a very big role in the reason why I had a good senior year and in winning all these matches.”
As Golubenko closes the chapter on his high school career, he will now begin to look ahead to his play at the collegiate level, as Golubenko is committed to play men’s tennis at Trinity College. With his mindset and dedication steady, he’s eager to forge on this new and exciting path.
“I’m really excited,” Golubenko said. “They’re Division III, but they’re in one of the strongest conferences and about three or four teams from that division make it to nationals every year, so I guess I’m just excited to play against these people who are way higher level than me and have played for longer than me. I’m just going to go in with the mentality of ‘I have nothing to lose.’”
