Boys’ Tennis Takes On Peninsula

Waiting for Peninsula to service the ball, varsity athletes Yuuki Sugiura (12) and Jeffrey Yum (12) couldn’t be more ready to rule the court.

Dishing up a threatening serve, varsity team member Stefan Cutovic (11) is in a neck-to-neck battle against Peninsula’s #1 player. Cutovic has been playing tennis for over 12 years and shared that he was really shocked when he defeated Peninsula’s top player: “To my surprise, I was able to sweep [sweep: beat the #1, #2, and #3] their singles lineup.”

Watching his teammates play during a short water break, Cutovic discussed what he loves most about tennis: “The thing I love most about tennis is the amount of friendships I’ve made over the past several years. Playing high school tennis only increased the amount of people I’ve been able to talk to and have fun with; it’s a great experience.”

Sugiura and Yum tap racquets after scoring a well earned point.

Ishaan Venkatraman (10) takes a quick break in between games to talk strategy with Coach Jin and grab a sip of water. He’s been playing tennis since he was five and spoke about how “tennis is a great sport that can teach you many other things in life.” Before every game, Venkatraman always “run laps around the tennis court to get my legs warm as they are a very important aspect of the game.”

Tossing the tennis ball up, Venkatraman delivers a fierce serve to the opposing Peninsula player. Even though the Peninsula team won overall, Venkatraman said “I am glad we tried our best and won some matches.” He explains how his “best set against Penn was against the number one even though I lost. I played really well and tried my best.”

In a clash against West’s #1 and Peninsula’s #1, Cutovic manages to keep the lightning fast tennis ball in play. When asked how the game went, Cutovic said “I do the best that I can and regardless of what the outcome is, I won’t feel defeated. Tennis shouldn’t be so stress-inducing, especially when I have a large support group behind me.”

Coach Jin and Cutovic review the previous game and strategize for the next one. In his game against Peninsula’s #1 player, Cutovic noticed that the “Penn team was a hard hitter and hit very flat balls. I was able to take into consideration the strong wind we had that day and use it to my advantage.”

Varsity team member Raghavendra Raikar (12) aims his serve in hopes of landing an ace.

Edward Fu (12) and Ethan Cheng (12) put up a good fight during their game against Peninsula. Fu described a pre-game ritual the team does before each match (they did a modified version for this game due to COVID restrictions): “Before a match starts, we usually gather up in a circle and link arms. We start chanting and moving back and forth, getting louder and louder as we move. Our captains are in the center and when the volume reaches its peak, they yell “WHO ARE WE” and we respond, “WARRIORS”. Then they [the captains] say “W E” and we say “S T”. [All together we chant] “West on 3 west ready 1, 2, 3 WEST” and we break up and go to our sets.”

Tied 2-2 against Peninsula, Fu gets ready to serve the ball in hopes of scoring a point. He explained why he loves tennis so much: “The best thing about tennis is how it combines a lot of things I love. Fast reactions, strong hits, and quick movement. I love the satisfaction of moving from ball to ball and finally hitting that final winner.” Despite losing overall to Peninsula, Fu has confidence in the team and shared how a “team goal is to win League this year.”