On Oct. 15, 2021, Troy High School’s varsity boys tennis team won states for the first time in school history. With such a successful 2021-2022 season, we are left to wonder what contributed to their success and where the team is now. 

A huge factor in the tennis team’s success is the time and effort they put in. 

When asked how much he trains, senior captain Shrihari Ananthalwan said, “Every day, for one to two hours.” 

That’s just during the season; off-season training is also very important to maintain performance. 

Junior Nish Palepu said, when prompted about his training regimen, “During the season we have daily practices, but off-season we try to play around three times a week so that we’re not losing our form.” 

There is a direct correlation between practice and performance. In an analysis titled “The Relationship Between Deliberate Practice and Performance in Sports: A Meta-Analysis”, researchers found that, “Overall, deliberate practice accounted for 18% of the variance in sports performance.”  

Last year, all this hard work paid off when the boys varsity tennis team won states. 

Palepu, who was a part of this success, describes winning states as “unreal.” 

“I was really thankful I was a part of it. In the end, all the hard work we did during off-season paid off in the season,” he continued. 

Ananthalwan says, “I felt happy because it’s kinda like leaving my legacy at the school as it was our first time winning states and all.”

Now it’s 2022, and the team has changed quite a bit. 

When asked how he thought the team changed, Palepu said, “We definitely lost a lot of seniors last year, but this year it’s… good because we have a lot of new talent coming in from the freshmen side of it.”

Troy High’s tennis team lost nine seniors, which is going to have a significant impact on the team, even if it’s just dynamic-wise. 

Fortunately, the team is still doing well; they’ve only lost one game this year to Bloomfield Hills.

Everyone involved with the tennis team is extremely passionate, and it shows in the fact that they are continuing to do well even after losing such a large chunk of their team. Looking toward the future with this new team, they strive to take the state title once again.

Troy High is very proud of the achievement that the boys tennis team made last year and is excited to see what they do this year.