2026 Season
Season officially begins February 9
2025 Season Summary
By Coach Drury
With the previous year’s team players (Raaj Thakur (Co-captain), Matthew Adams, Keller Onstad, Bob Shi, Nick Smith, James Xu, Henry Zhang), freshmen with Middle School tennis experience (Jackson Dean (Co-captain), James Edge, Gus Fochtmann, Ryan Griggs) and two new Latin freshmen (William Holland and Will Hobbs) this season’s JV Boys’ Tennis Team posted a record of 9 wins and 3 losses. Some of the season’s highlights include wins over conference opponents Country Day, PD, and Cannon, and victories over new (to JV) competition against Christ School and Myers Park High’s Tennis Club. As a team, the Hawks won 63% of their singles matches and 70% of their doubles matches. The team’s winning spirit and competitiveness undoubtedly grew throughout the season by the pre-match pep talks given by Junior Raaj Thakur.
2024 Season Summary
By Coach Drury
The 2024 CLS JV Boys’ Tennis record was 7-5, with several players having overall winning records. The team was anchored by the undefeated Wilson Zheng (Fr), who teamed up effectively with several players to win line one doubles matches. With nine freshmen on the roster, the team benefitted from the play of those with experience on the Hawks’ Middle School team as well as junior and sophomore players. Co-captains Merritt Backerman (Jr) and Wilson Zheng led the team throughout the season with humor and their inspiring pre-match recitations. The positive chemistry among the players was due to their leadership. Well done, Hawks!
2023 Season Summary
The JV boys' tennis team achieved a very good record of 10-1. Junior co-captains
Nathan Butler (line 1, 8-3) and Solomon Boakye (line 5, 10-1) challenged their teammates to persevere and to stay in the moment (i.e. play the next point and forget about the past points). As a result, the team outplayed and outscored every school that they faced. As a team, they won 68 of the sets played (69%). The singles lines were rounded out by
Andrew McDonald (line 2, 9-2),
Rossi Bellavia (line 3, 5-3),
Nishanth Gaddam (line 4, 4-5), and
Trevor Hoffman (line 6, 5-5). Contributing back-up players were
Landon Broadwell,
Syan Gulati,
Clayton Hahn,
Riley Phelps, and
Raaj Thakur. Congratulations to all on a great season.
2022 Season Summary
Charlotte Latin's boys junior varsity tennis team was a high-spirited group who quickly came together as a fun-loving, hard-playing team. This relatively inexperienced group achieved an impressive winning record of 7-3. Though anchored by four returning sophomores, the team included 6 freshmen, a sophomore transfer from out-of-state and several athletes with little or no previous competitive tennis experience. The season included convincing wins against Charlotte Catholic, Marvin Ridge High School, Providence Day School and Cannon School. Calvin Ehrenburg, at Line 1 (6-3), showed competitive play with his vastly improved backhand and court coverage in his still-developing singles game. Freshmen Chanakya Ayinala (3-2) Neshanth Gaddam (3-3), and Andrew McDonald (3-3) contributed with single wins in the upper half of the line up. Solo Boyake and Nathan Butler finished out the season with wins in the lower half of the line up. Freshmen Chanakya Ayinala and Andrew McDonald (5-3) were a talented doubles pair who displayed solid teamwork and continuous improvement throughout the season.
2021 Season Summary
Junior varsity tennis focuses on skill and strategic tennis development, but the 2021 season also came with a lot of wins. The Hawks finished with a record of 9 wins, 0 loses and 1 rainout. All of the players improved and performed well. Devin Amin, our JV captain, was undefeated in his eleven matches. Rohan Nadkarni went undefeated in 18 matches. Calvin Ehrenberg won all but one of his matches with a strategy of relentless pursuit. The doubles team of Nadkarni and Alex Troni at Line 1 anchored the team with 9 solid wins.
2020 Season Summary
The spring athletic season came to an abrupt end on Thursday, March 12, 2020, when the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association announced that all athletics events were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impact of that decision on our spring student-athletes was top of mind for all involved and the athletic department, coaches, booster club, and parents worked together to keep our Hawks engaged and connected. Our Latin athletes ended their seasons in an unprecedented and unexpected way, but with a renewed appreciation for their sport, their teammates, and the many benefits of participating in Charlotte Latin Athletics.
