Emanuelle Oliveira also contributed to this article.
The Boys Tennis Team has consistently dominated the tennis courts throughout the years while representing Malden High School. Having previously been only one win short of becoming Greater Boston League (GBL) champions, they anticipate an even greater and more productive season this year.
While new players join annually, the team is not without its veterans. Once again, senior Naveen Nemalapuri returns to the courts as a captain. Having played on the high school team since seventh grade. “I feel fantastic about being captain again this year, especially senior year. It's something special like it’s the last dance.”
Last season, senior Wilson Jiang, though a new player at the time, was able to score himself a spot on the varsity tennis team. He cherished—and still does—the “great chemistry” he has with his teammates as “that just made going to every practice” something he looked forward to.
Sophomore Henry Dzuong also joined last year but quickly grew to enjoy tennis. He admitted to the “chills and fears of going into the season,” but was happy to find a team that “embraced all newcomers… and because of that, I feel as though that’s why we performed on such a high level.” With the new season ahead, he hopes to improve his playing skills—to bring him to a “level where I could be proud of myself for what I’ve accomplished.”
For Jiang, he felt that it would be great to “help the newcomers and underclassmen feel welcome on the team and have as great of an experience as I've had.” However, noting how he and his fellow teammates have been practicing tennis even during the winter and learning from one another, he also wants to personally improve in terms of “consistency and mentality during a match… in order to be the most focused and dedicated person I can.”
But ultimately, Nemalapuri emphasized “one goal and one only: to win the GBL title.” With a single loss that decisively cost them the championship last season, “that's all that has been on our minds… all the boys on varsity have their eyes on that trophy. But, we want to play at the best level we can. We want to play to exhaustion every day, putting in everything we can.”
“We want to play at the best level we can. We want to play to exhaustion every day, putting in everything we can.”
Naveen Nemalapuri
Junior Steven Luong echoed this sentiment, stating that “winning the GBL is the main goal of our team this season” and that he hopes they will be able to do so “as long as we keep up the hard work and continue to improve.”
The team is sure to display the good results of these efforts in their upcoming matches, which may finally lead to their acquisition of a GBL title.
