Boys’ Tennis: Falcons lose important match to league rivals

Despite not being at full strength, the 8-5 boys’ tennis team managed a 4-3 win over school rivals Los Gatos on April 23. 

Strong performances from No. 1 singles sophomore Kial Kaiser, No. 4 singles junior Henry Shen, No. 2 doubles junior Deepak Ravikumar and senior Troy Posadas and No. 3 doubles sophomore Sanjay Kaliyur and senior Gautam Bhayani carried the team for the win. 

“Our team performed well under tough circumstances and came out with the win,” Kaiser said. 

A rolled ankle for No. 2 singles freshman Neel Bedekar and a broken right hand for traditional No. 3 doubles player freshman Vikram Ramesh prevented both from participating in the match. While Bedekar is expected to recover soon, Ramesh will be out for the rest of the season. 

“When a team is missing many vital starters, it changes the whole line up around,” Kaiser said. “We have to put many of our players against players of higher levels and some have to play much different positions.”

Prior to the team’s win over Los Gatos, the boys lost 4-3 in a close match against Monta Vista on April 5. On top of losing to their league rivals, the Falcons have become seeded lower than Monta Vista for the CCS tournament and now risk facing No. 1 seed Menlo earlier on. 

The Falcons led the Matadors with an early 3-1 due to victories by No. 3 singles sophomore Zach Hewlyn, No. 1 doubles team senior captains Will Edman and Krishnan and No. 2 doubles team Ravikumar and Posadas.  

Unfortunately, the Matadors quickly retaliated with three comeback wins over Shen, Bedekar and Kaiser for a clutch victory. 

“I felt confident in the beginning, sweeping my first set,” Shen said. “During the second set, [my opponent] played much smarter, consistently and made less unforced errors. At the end he came out victorious, but I have to give it to him since he played well and tough.” 

The team will be having its senior match against Palo Alto on April 26.