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Junior Player
spotlight By Brian Coleman
The Scarsdale Five or the first time, the best girls’ tennis teams in New York gathered in one place to compete for a state championship. It was the inaugural New York State Team Championship, and the level of play did not disappoint. With tennis primarily being an individual sport, team tennis presents a unique challenge. Winning a team match requires more than just having good players up and down your roster, but also that those players come together to play for something bigger than themselves. That is exactly what the team from Scarsdale High School represented, and part of the reason why Scarsdale won the first-ever New York State Girls’ Tennis Team Championship, edging Syosset 4-3 in a thrilling title match. “I knew Syosset was going to be tough,” said Scarsdale head coach Jen Roane. “Our girls have been challenged
throughout the season, but not like this. “I think the win meant a little more because it was so close. We had different people on the team who stepped up. My first doubles and second doubles teams, those are the first matches they've lost all season. I’m so proud of the way my third singles player came back. And
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our fourth doubles team stayed strong.” That success was not an overnight product, but instead months and months of work by the team leading up to the state tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Laura Mendes was a co-captain alongside junior Natalie Hu, and together helped create the standard for the team. “In the beginning of the season, we did not know what to expect. There were eight open spots for new players and only five of us were returning players coming into the year,”
New York Tennis Magazine • January/February 2022 • NYTennisMag.com
