After missing most of the 2016 season with an ankle injury, Ramesh started the 2017 season off on a high note, winning the Camden County Tennis Championships singles title.
By MIKE MONOSTRA
The Sun
Eastern Regional High School tennis senior Ashwin Ramesh is already making up for lost time.
After missing most of the 2016 season with an ankle injury, Ramesh started the 2017 season on the right foot, winning the Camden County Tennis Championships singles title on Sunday, April 2.
“He’s doing a nice job,” Eastern head coach George Kemery said. “Whether he knows it or not, he’s hit the ground running.”
Ramesh has been a key player for the Vikings since earning the first singles spot on the team during his sophomore year. He entered the 2016 season with a lot of confidence, but saw his season cut short in early April.
Prior to the Vikings’ third match against Shawnee High School, Ramesh decided to go up for a ball in warm ups.
“I rolled my ankle and fell down,” Ramesh said. “I thought it was just a normal ankle roll, but when I tried to get up, I couldn’t stand.”
Ramesh fractured his left ankle, taking him out of the lineup for about a month. He returned to the lineup in May just prior to the start of the NJSIAA team tournament, but Ramesh admitted it took awhile to get back up to speed, especially when planting on his left ankle for backhands.
“I lost a lot of confidence in my strokes,” he said.
In the offseason, Ramesh was determined to make his senior season one to remember. He spent additional time in the gym, trying to build his strength.
“I tried to just do a little bit,” he said. “Working on your actual game is more important, but I felt it helped me gain a little more power in my strokes.”
Ramesh’s strength is his ability to outsmart his opponent. Kemery emphasizes the importance of strategy with his entire team and feels Ramesh embraces this philosophy.
“He can diagnose a game plan that somebody has and pretty much break it down to its finest components and defeat them,” Kemery said. “He looks at tennis as a strategy game, not just hitting the ball as hard as possible.”
Kemery feels Ramesh was at the top of his game entering the Camden County tournament. He talked of how Ramesh was strong in Eastern’s scrimmages and has been playing with a little extra fire early in 2017.
“I really think he came into this year looking to contribute and make up for lost time,” Kemery said.
Ramesh had few issues in the Camden County tournament. He didn’t lose a single set in all four matches he played and defeated Haddonfield Memorial High School’s Teo Lupinetti, 6–0 6–0, in the championship match.
Ramesh’s closest match of the tournament came in the semifinals against teammate and Eastern third singles player Kavtik Agrawal, whom he defeated 7–5 6–4. Ramesh enjoyed playing his friend and teammate.
“We’ve always had each other’s back and we’ve played so many times,” Ramesh said. “It was nice to play him in the semifinals.”
Though winning the singles title was an individual accomplishment, Ramesh talked constantly how much support he had from his teammates. He spoke of how the team stuck around to watch his final match and feels the team’s closeness will help drive it to success later this season.
“Even though we’re playing our individual matches, kids aren’t on the phone while we’re playing,” he said. “Kids aren’t going home to do homework. We’re all tuned in because whether it affects us personally or not, it affects the team.”
