The boys’ tennis team has started the season with a 6-1 record and is looking to position itself for a high seed in CCS.
The only loss was to Monta Vista on March 24, which ended with the score 4-3. In a previous match on March 2, the Falcons won 6-1, largely because the Matadors’ No. 1 singles player Amit Batta was missing.
“This time the match was going to be a lot tougher because having [Batta] in the lineup shifts their line up down,” senior No. 1 singles player Karthik Padmanabhan said. “Going into the match, we knew we had to win one of the doubles in order to get the win.”
Padmanabhan said that going into the match, the team was confident that it could get three singles wins and pull out a doubles win for the overall victory.
The match started off well, with No. 2 singles Kailas Shekar, No. 3 singles Dean Stratakos, No. 4 singles Jihau Yu and No. 2 doubles Nikhil Mehta and Tristan Xiao all winning their first sets.
After the three singles players won their matches, the overall score was tied at 3-3, the last match coming down to that of Mehta and Xiao. After winning the first set 7-5, though, the doubles pair lost the second set, leaving the end result to the third and last set. They ended up losing the decisive last set 6-2
“They fought hard and played really well up to the end,” Padmanabhan said. “It was just unfortunate that they could not clutch out the win for the team.”
Before the loss to Monta Vista, the Falcons managed to beat Homestead 4-3 on March 17. Going into the match, the Falcons had expected an easy match.
“I felt we came into the match a little overconfident and too relaxed, and as a result, all of us did not play well,” Padmanabhan said. “[Homestead] came to play, as they quickly took the lead.”
Still, even after Homestead raced out to an early lead, the Falcons fought back and won.
The Falcons also managed to defeat Palo Alto 6-1 on March 15.
“This season is going pretty well so far, with the exception of the one loss against Monta Vista. I have high hopes for this season and I think we can really do well,” Padmanabhan said.
* Due to printing deadline, The Falcon was not able to report on the March 29 match against Lynbrook.