Boys’ Tennis Wins Under Bad Conditions

Boys’ tennis started their season off right this Saturday with a 5-2 win against St. Paul’s. Despite the less than ideal weather for tennis, with heavy wind and cold air, Big Red pulled out their first win of the season.The boys’ singles matches all went very well, but the athletes struggled in their doubles matches. Still, they only dropped three matches despite having some trouble in doubles. Preps Brian Niguidala and Cameron Gruss were the only players to win both their singles and doubles matches. “They played very well and are already contributing greatly to the team even though they are preps and new to the team,” said lower Joon Kim. “They are both really solid and consistent players,” said senior captain Nikhil Raman.Overall, the team still needs to work on their doubles skills for matches to come, so that they can win by an even more comfortable margin, and prove their dominance in the New England area. They have plenty of time for improvement, as this is the first match of the season.The boys’ tennis season is looking good for this year. “Though we lost Kenny Tao at number one, who is playing for Harvard, we still have a solid ladder from one to six,” Raman said. “I don’t think our team is much worse, if at all, this year.” The new and young talent like Niguidala and Gruss along with the older returners with another year of practice under their belt will be able to make up for the loss of Tao and the other seniors last year.“I think we can and should go into every match expecting to win,” Raman said. With this optimistic and strong attitude, hopefully the boys will be able to fulfill this expectation. With strong captains, Raman and senior Charlie Boyd, both mentally and athletically, the team has a very good outlook for success.“Next match is Groton this coming Wednesday, and they should be a challenging match,” Kim said after Saturday's game, but Exeter prevailed winning 9-6. Hopefully the team will be able to carry on their early season success.