Photo by Nathan Gray

The Wachovia Palmetto Tennis Championships Finals were held on Monday morning at the Belton Tennis Center.

BELTON — As Zachary Rigsby and Billy Kenny stepped on the court just shy of 10 a.m. Monday, the temperatures were not unbearable — still in the low 90s.

But as their marathon first set wore on, it seemed like a winner would be as likely as a cold front. Rigsby, who barked at himself as he struggled to take control, won the first set 7-6 (5), and then cruised to a 6-0 victory in the clincher of the 18s singles championship for his first title in his final attempt in the Wachovia Palmetto Tennis Championships.

“I’ve wanted this since I was eight,” said Rigsby, who finished third last year, and second two years ago. “I’ve been wanting it for a while.”

After semifinal wins on Sunday, both predicted a close match because they’ve virtually split their meetings over the years. The first set, which swayed back and forth, proved them right.

“The first set was awful, it was a battle,” Rigsby said. “We were both hitting it real well, just grinding away.”

Rigsby, the No. 2 seed, and a Simpsonville native, upset his doubles partner, and the No. 1 seed in Kenny, of Pawleys Island, who may not return to this tournament next year. Kenny is still searching for his first Belton title.

The players alternated wins throughout the first set, even in the tiebreaker. But once Rigsby broke Kenny to start the second, the outcome was just a formality. Rigsby held serve, and seemed to have more energy to finish the match.

“I just concentrated on holding after that,” Rigsby said. “I knew he wasn’t really into it anymore.”

Added Kenny, “If I didn’t hold there, I knew it was over. He was serving really well.”

While Kenny won his semifinal match 6-2, 6-2, he said it was more grueling than the scoreboard indicated. Grigsby, conversely, only played three games in the semifinals because his opponent retired with a back injury. Then they lost a three-set, three hour, doubles championship match later on Sunday, further fatiguing Kenny, who called a medical timeout after seeing double during the doubles match.

“Once that first set was done, we were having a lot of long rallies and I could feel my legs going,” Kenny said of Monday’s match. “I was starting to get pretty weak, so I knew I had to do something in that set to have a chance. But once that second set came around, I just had nothing left.”