Two tennis aces, 14, killed in car crash year after Djokovic coin toss

Two promising teenage tennis stars have died in a car accident on Long Island. One of the boys, Drew Hassenbein, performed the coin toss during the 2021 US Open final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. Fellow varsity tennis teammate Ethan Falkowitz also died at the scene while two other boys in the car, aged 16 and 17, were hospitalised.

The American tennis community has been left in shock following the death of two 14-year-old rising stars. Hassenbein and Falkowitz were in the back seat of a car that was struck on Wednesday night.

According to NBC, the crash was allegedly caused by an intoxicated wrong-way driver named by Nassau County police as Amandeep Singh, 34. Singh was said to be driving a Dodge Ram southbound in a northbound lane when he struck an Alfa Romeo carrying four teenagers.

The quartet were apparently driving home after a celebratory dinner following a victory in a tennis competition. One of the victims, Hassenbein, was touted as a future tennis star. And as a 12-year-old he performed the coin toss for Djokovic and Medvedev’s 2021 US Open final clash.

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Speaking to LongIsland.com after being part of the historic match, Hassenbein said: “It was a really great experience. Before the players came out I was talking to former Grand Slam champion Stan Smith for about a half hour, and then the players came out and they said hi to me gave me high-fives. I was a little nervous doing the coin toss because I didn’t want to mess that up, but otherwise I was fine.”

He was also ranked at national level and – despite being in middle school – starred on the local high school’s varsity tennis team. Falkowitz was also a star of the same varsity team, and their tennis coach Jay Harris paid tribute to the pair.

Their coach said the 14-year-olds were “amazing guys” and “best friends” who had both started playing tennis aged five before joining the varsity team when they were in eighth grade.

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Per CBS, Harris also said: “It’s absolutely heartbreaking. For this to happen in the tennis community to two such special boys is crushing. I’m not sure how everyone gets through this really, really tough day.

“They were just two guys that people loved to be around. People would watch – what’s Drew doing? What’s Ethan doing?” The two other boys in the car were hospitalised with internal injuries. The pair, aged 16 and 17, are said to be recovering and police claimed they were “stable”.

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