Edison tennis team faces tough week
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
The Edison High School boys tennis team opened the new season with a 3-2 win over JFK before suffering its first loss of the season in a 3-2 decision to Old Bridge.

In the first match of the season against Kennedy it all came down to Junior Varun Trivedi's match at No. 2 singles.With the two teams tied a two wins apiece, Trivedi trailed 3-5 in the third set. Trivedi went on to fight off five match points to force his match into a tiebreaker where he sealed theMetuchen win.

"JFK beat us 4-1 last year and this year's match was just crazy tennis," Edison head coach Wesley Smith said. "Varan stayed strong and came out on top in the end. It was a great way to start the season."

Senior Alex Li was also victorious for Edison at No. 1 singles. Li, back for his second straight year in the top spot, won his match 6-1, 6-4.

"Alex has learned to be more consistent this year," Smith said. "He's got a nice serve and he's got the game to hang with anybody in the Red Division."

Senior Ankit Patel was not so fortunate in his first match of the season at No. 3 singles. Patel lost to his opponent from Kennedy 6-1, 6-1. Also coming up short in the Kennedy match was the No. 2 doubles team of senior Mihir Patel and junior Nikhil Khare. Khare and Patel lost 6-1, 6-2.

The team's other win came from the No. 1 doubles team of Abhi Shenoy and Karan Nijhawan. The junior tandem played at No. 2 doubles last season and opened the year with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.

In the team's 3-2 defeat at the hands of Old Bridge it was Li winning at No. 1 singles and Shenoy and Nijhawan victorious at No. 1 doubles. Li won his match 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 over Old Bridge's Aakash Shah. Shah beat Li in both meetings between the two teams last season.

"This was definitely a huge win for Alex," Smith said. "This match showed just how much Alex has improved so far this year."

Shenoy and Nijhawan won their second match of the season with a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Rob Gatdula and Justin Kahn of Old Bridge.

At No. 2 singles, Trivedi fell to 1-1 on the young season after a 4-6, 5-7 loss to Nick Resciniti while No. 3 singles player Patel dropped to 0-2 after a 2-6, 3-6 defeat at the hands of Old Bridge's Jacob Khodakov.

"We got off to a nice start, but we have a tough week ahead of us," Smith said. "The key for us is consistency and for guys to be a little more patient on the court."