On Thursday, Apr. 14, the West High Warriors had a Varsity Boys Tennis away game versus the El Segundo Eagles. In addition to West missing two of their best players for this match, the Eagles have been one of the toughest teams the Warriors had to face this past season, resulting in a 4–14 loss for West. Previously in the year, the Warriors had success against the Eagles in the first serve tournament that fronted the season. However, at that time, El Segundo similarly missed some of their better players, in part affecting the outcome of the tournament.

   For this specific game, Head Coach Ehsan arranged the lineup so that most of the team’s best players played doubles rather than singles. Consequently, the four sets that West won were all from the doubles pairs, three of which were won by underclassmen Advait Sharma (10) and Kaden Que (10), and the fourth by varsity returners Max Kim (11) and James Sayano (10). The remaining team members struggled in their games and were outmatched by the Eagles.

   “Understanding my weaknesses and my strengths with a good mental attitude really helped me win my personal match,” Kim said, referring to what was key to his success. In tennis, every play has an outcome that directly affects the score of the game, making it all the more difficult to remain focused. In practice, Kim felt the team needed to work on “chemistry and having a good mental attitude before playing instead of faltering and folding three games into a set.” Referring to the technical process of playing the sport, Sharma explained that there are always aspects of tennis that can be worked on. “Everything matters from improving your footwork, your forehand, and your backhand. Everyone can improve because even the best players play badly sometimes,” Sharma articulated. 

   Recalling the match against El Segundo and other past games, Kim considered things he wished could have been done differently. “This season has been really tough, finding the right roster, having both good doubles and singles players, and currently we’re struggling very much in all of our matches,” he reflected. Going forward, the probability of the Warriors entering CIF is unknown, even as the team is on the cusp of qualifying. With just a few more games left in the season, each and every victory matters for the team.