YARMOUTH – The teacher drew the pupil to net with a drop shot, sent him scurrying back to chase a lob, then instead of smashing the just-get-it-back return, dropped a soft volley within scrambling distance.

The pupil — 16-year-old Justin Brogan of Falmouth — raced forward and sent the ball whizzing toward his coach — Ben Cox, who deftly volleyed the tennis ball into the open court to win the point.

Additional Photos

Ben Cox, 32, a former No. 1 player at Michigan, beat 16-year-old Justin Brogan of Falmouth – who also happens to be a tennis student of his. Photos by Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Karolina Pierko, 30, of Saco beats Falmouth’s Curran Burfeind for the wonen’s title. Pierko was a four-time state champ at Biddeford High.

“He’s got all the shots,” said Brogan, a rising junior at Falmouth High. “He can do whatever he wants.”

Cox won 6-4, 6-1 to claim his third straight men’s singles title at the 23rd annual Betty Blakeman Memorial tennis tournament on a breezy Sunday afternoon.

In the women’s singles finals, Biddeford native Karolina Pierko made a successful return to the Blakeman after an eight-year absence, defeating second-seeded Curran Burfeind of Falmouth, 6-4, 6-0.

“I love playing this tournament and I love playing back in Maine,” said Pierko, a former four-time high school state champion who is now a married mother of three, living in Saco and working in Westbrook after earning a degree at Tennessee Wesleyan in 2010. “There’s a lot of new young faces, but there’s still some of the people who were around when I was growing up.”

The words were hardly out of her mouth when former Blakeman champ Brian Mavor paused to offer his congratulations before taking the court for a doubles match.

“I’ve known him since I was a little kid,” Pierko said.

At 30, Pierko still had 21 years on her opponent.

“I felt lucky to be out there in the finals,” said Burfeind, a two-time champion herself. “She’s a beautiful player.”

Burfeind hung tough in the first set with a variety of slices and cut shots before Pierko eventually took charge of the match.

“She’s very crafty,” Pierko said. “And she’s actually pretty quick around the court. She was doing a good job of mixing them up and running me around.”

Burfeind wanted to attack more, but Pierko’s passing shots soon convinced her otherwise.

“She kept me back,” Burfeind said. “I like to come to net, but she kept me back at the baseline because she has a great passing shot.”

Pierko and Burfeind were the only seeds in a women’s field of 17. The men’s field totaled 98, and not one of Cox’s six opponents managed a set off the former No. 1 player at Michigan who recently moved from Florida to Falmouth, where he plans to open a junior tennis academy this fall after getting married in September.

Cox currently teaches at Portland Country Club where one of his students is Brogan, a two-time finalist of the high school singles tournament.

“You’re kind of a coach/player out there,” said Cox, 32. “There were times when I hit a shot and you would say, ‘All right, let’s see if he steps up and hits it.’ And he did, which was frustrating and rewarding all at the same time.”

The first set stayed on serve until Cox broke at 5-4 to take the set. In the second, Brogan fought off three match points before finally succumbing.

“He did a lot of good things out there,” Cox said. “It’s probably a little too comfortable for both of us. He knows my strengths and he’s just so solid from the baseline that if I’m off, he can hang in there all day long.”

Brogan reached the final by defeating No. 11 Sam Hyland in three sets in the Round of 16, No. 3 Mike Burke in straight sets (with a tiebreaker) in the quarters and No. 7 Tyler Adams 6-4, 6-2 in the semis.

Adams had knocked off the second-seeded Mavor Saturday night in a quarterfinal match.

In the other semifinal, Cox turned away No. 4 John Weber 6-2, 6-3.

“I was very happy to get to the finals,” Brogan said. “I had a lot of tough matches.”

In the only other singles tournament, Paul Whitmore, 62, of Hampton, N.H., won his fifth 55-plus men’s title after South Portland’s Dick McLeod, 59, was forced to retire after injuring his left Achilles’ tendon while leading 7-5, 1-0.

“It didn’t rupture but it pulled,” McLeod said.

“It was not looking good. But I don’t mind losing to Paul. He’s a good champion.”

In the doubles tournaments, Gregg Lipton of Cumberland and Roger Gagne of Falmouth won 55-plus men; Jordan Friedland of Damariscotta and Sadie Hammond of Belgrade won mixed; Mike Hill of Topsham and Eric Blakeman of Falmouth won men’s open; Sadie and Bethany Hammond of Belgrade won the women’s open.

All proceeds from the Blakeman — estimated at more than $14,000 this year — go to the Cancer Community Center of South Portland.

Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:

gjordan@pressherald.com

Twitter: GlennJordanPPH

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