Boys’ tennis looks to regain position as champions

February 4, 2013 — by Sudeep Raj and Minu Palaniappan
henryshen

With the 2013 tennis season starting soon, many members on the varsity squad want to regain their place as the one of the top tennis teams in the state.

Coach: Florin Marica

Last season's record:15-7

Last season's recap: After losing star Nikhil Jayashankar to graduation in 2011, the team was weaker in both singles and doubles; however, the Falcons made it to the semi-final round of CCS where they lost to Bellarmine.

Star player(s): sophomore Neel Bedekar (No. 1 singles), junior Zack Hewlin (No. 2 singles)

Key additions: freshman Karthik Pamdabaman, and sophomore Hans Sun

Key matchups/games/meets: Monta Vista, Menlo, Gunn, Palo Alto

With the 2013 tennis season starting soon, many members on the varsity squad want to regain their place as the one of the top tennis teams in the state.

The 2012 season was filled with obstacles that greatly highlighted the lack of depth on the singles squad. Saratoga struggled against tennis heavyweights such as Monta Vista and Menlo.

“Monta Vista and Menlo have very strong lineups that we may not be able to match with the loss of [Kial Kaiser] and our former senior doubles teams,” said junior doubles player Kush Maheshwari.

In addition to the graduation of the numerous seniors, last year's No. 1 singles player, junior Kial Kaiser, has decided not to play this year. Instead, Kaiser hopes to find success in USTA (United States Tennis Association).

“Kial always won his matches. It was a guarantee, and without him we’ll have to fight for every win,” said Maheshwari.
 

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