Netmen eye eleventh-straight Inter-Ac title

Cole Wolf ’20 and Sunny Yu ’20 rally on an afternoon tennis practice – photo by Jack Kirkpatrick ’20

The tennis team has ruled the Inter-Ac, winning ten seasons in a row. As the 2020 season starts, Fords’ tennis has the same goals in mind.

     “We are expecting to take the Inter-Ac again and continue our ten-year streak,” Sixth Former Sunny Yu said.

     Yu has emerged as one of the main leaders of the team. He is excited for the season and even more excited to see how his teammates develop during the year.

     Sixth Former Ethan Brodie notes the team’s consistent positive characteristics.  

     “The team has been incredibly strong during my entire time in high school. Strong senior leadership has remained consistent every year. Coach Fink is always bringing a winning mentality to the team every season. Every day of the season we are out there practicing hard and preparing for matches. So, although the players have changed, the winning mentality has never changed,” Brodie said.

     Although tennis is a fairly individual sport, the members of the team, specifically the Sixth Formers, have a team-first mentality. They plan to do whatever it takes in order to seal their eleventh-straight Inter-Ac title.

“Every match matters, so every win we get goes towards the end goal of winning the Inter-Ac.”

Ethan Brodie ’20

     “For me, I just want to win as much as possible and play the best I can,” Yu said.

     “My personal expectation is to win as many matches as possible,” Brodie said. “Every match matters, so every win we get goes towards the end goal of winning the Inter-Ac.”

     The team’s camaraderie has improved over the years. Yu believes the doubles’ lineup will only improve because of this closeness.

    “Our team has needed to focus on our doubles a lot more,” Yu said. “We have a much closer bond now.”

     “I’m really excited to lead this team with the other seniors this year,” Yu said, “and I know that these boys can perform on the court.”

Author: Jake LaRocca '22

Sports editor Jake LaRocca has written for The Index since 2018. His articles "Water Polo led by junior Olympians" earned a Silver Key from the 2020 Philadelphia-Area Scholastic Writing competition.