Rishi Mukundan said it was a crazy day of tennis on Oct. 11.

First, the Redmond High junior grinded through an epic, three-hour match to win 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 to begin his consolation-bracket journey in the 3A KingCo boys singles tennis tournament at Mercer Island High.

Next up, less than an hour later, he gathered his strength and confidence to net a 6-4, 6-2 win to take the bracket and finish fifth overall. His opponents that day were Will Chen of Interlake and Alex Kaelin of Mercer Island.

Mukundan, who began the tourney on Oct. 10 with a 1-1 record, said the key to those second-day victories was, “Never give up. If you stay positive, good results will happen.”

Following his 1-6 loss to begin the first match on day two, Mukundan met with his coach, Stephen Thornsberry, to devise a game plan for the following set. His opponent was a strong rallier, so the Mustang decided to draw his foe to the net and win points there. It worked.

In the deciding set, Mukundan kept his focus and intensity at a premium and was able to outlast his opponent in the rallies.

“I was serving well and I wasn’t going to let him take the upper hand in the points,” Mukundan said.

Mukundan was confident yet worn down heading into the final match, but he soon found his footing and then reached a high level to carry him through the entire match.

Redmond will next play crossover matches with 3A Metro teams in May.