A year after four teams won sectional titles and two teams reached the Tournament of Champions, a new boys tennis season arrives in North Jersey.
As the season gets underway, here are the players to watch, as well as the North Jersey preseason rankings heading into the first matches of the season.
Players to watch
Sandeep Alapati, Bergen Tech senior
Alapati went unbeaten at first singles in the team postseason and enters his senior season as a three-star recruit. He led the Knights to 16 wins, a sectional title and the Group 4 state finals. Individually, Alapati reached the third round of the state singles tournament in June.
Ajay Kartik, Northern Highlands sophomore
Kartik stood strong at first singles for the Highlanders, who began last season with a 13-0 record. He’s a four-star recruit that is already ranked as a top 10 prospect in the state. Kartik lost only once in his freshman year during team play, dropping a match in straight sets to Ramapo’s Lukas Choi.
Max Loia, Ramapo sophomore
With Lukas Choi’s graduation, the Raiders will depend on their young singles players, particularly Loia. He handled matches at all three singles flights as a freshman, but only lost in team play when filling in at first singles against the county’s best. Loia enters the regular season with national tournament experience and is ranked near the top 100 in the eastern region of the USTA Junior Tournament rankings.
Russel Oh, Demarest senior
Oh was a steady presence for the Norsemen at second singles last season behind Ben Jacobs. With Jacobs graduating, Oh is the senior leader for a Demarest team that won sectional and group titles while reaching the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions. He lost to Newark Academy’s Sam Goidel in both the TOC team semifinals, as well as the third round of the state singles tournament.
Josh Greene, Dwight-Englewood sophomore
Greene was the NJIC’s most impressive freshman last season, bolstering the Bulldogs at first singles to a 17-win season and an unbeaten record in the NJIC Patriot. Greene guided Dwight-Englewood to the semifinals of the North Jersey non-public tournament before falling to state power Delbarton. Greene reached the third round of the state tournament before losing to top overall seed Michael Zheng of Delbarton.
Luke Han and Andrew Kim, Tenafly seniors
The most dangerous doubles duo in North Jersey is strong together, but also strong when apart. Han and Kim played with other partners at times last season as the Tigers won 20 matches to go along with sectional and group championships. The duo came together throughout the season and reached the quarterfinals during the state doubles tournament in June.
David Chung and Matthew Song, Bergen Tech senior and sophomore
Song quickly built chemistry with Chung as the duo was common together at first singles as the Knights climbed to the Group 4 final. Seeded in the 9-13 range for the state doubles tournament, Chung and Song reached the third round and have another season together to try and go even further.
Preseason Top 5 rankings
1. Bergen Tech (16-3)
2. Ramapo (16-4)
3. NV / Demarest (19-2)
4. Northern Highlands (15-2)
5. Glen Rock (17-6)
Last season’s records in parentheses
Robert Aitken is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: aitken@northjersey.com
Twitter: @robertaitkenjr