ALGONQUIN – To say there was an age difference in the men’s open doubles final of the McHenry County Tennis Classic was an understatement.

This time youth prevailed.

Elisha Hougland, 19, and John Mittvick, 22, defeated Mark Kay, 52, and Fred Thome, 49, 6-3, 6-4, to win the championship Sunday at The Racket Club. Hougland is from Gilberts and graduated from Hampshire in 2014 and Mittvick is from South Elgin but graduated from St. Charles North in 2011. Thome is from Crystal Lake and Kay from Lake in the Hills.

Hougland defeated Mittvick a week earlier in the men’s open singles final.

Kay joked after the match that Hougland’s and Mittvick’s ages combined didn’t even equal his or Thome’s age.

Hougland and Mittvick didn’t take their elders lightly, however, and the match

became a battle of basic doubles strategy. Thome and Kay played Division I college tennis, and Thome played on the Davis Cup team for Costa Rica.

“It was high-quality doubles,” Mittvick said. “It was just a lot of percentages. There was nothing spectacular.”

The match started for Mittvick as he went down love-40 on his service in the first game. He and Hougland battled back to win the game and avoid an early service break.

“I’m always very confident,” Mittvick said. “I tell myself I’m 100 percent confident in my serve. I know I’m going to hold.”

The match stayed on serve until Thome was broken to go down, 5-3.

“It was a big relief,” Hougland said.

Mittvick held serve to get win the first set.

“Those guys are so experienced that we couldn’t mess around,” Mittvick said.

Hougland said holding serve is more a reflection of how they are playing as a unit than just one person serving well.

“With us, whether we get broke or not is who is at the net,” Hougland said.

Hougland was broken early in the second set, but their confidence remained high.

“At the end of the first set our returns started getting better,” Hougland said. “Even though we got broke, we were confident with our returns.”

In the men’s NTRP 3.5 doubles final, David Korstanje and Neal Olson, both from McHenry, defeated Rob Bailey (Bull Valley) and Craig Mallian (Lake Barrington), 6-1, 7-5, to win the championship.

The Classic concludes this weekend with the mixed doubles championships.