Boys tennis goes to state

On May 25 one through four singles and the one doubles team played at the sectional tennis team tournament. Of all the players, junior Ryan Bilan and Senior Yacine Ferjani played in state June 1. Both lost both of their sets. Bilan played the tenth best player in the state and Ferjani lost to the number one seed.

Junior Ryan Bilan has been playing tennis at GHS for three years now and has a record of 17-2 and excited for state. “There will be pressure and there will always be pressure. But I have to go into the game knowing there is nothing to lose.” I am excited for the state tournament and hope that I can go all the way and win,” he said. This is Senior Yacine Ferjani first time going to state in his high school career. “I’m really excited and ready to destroy everybody,” he said.

Sub sectionals were played on May 23rd and the team performed well. All the single flights moved on to sectionals along with the one doubles team which consisted of Evan Xiong and Jack Griffin. 

The team this year is one of the best it’s been in years. At the conference tournament almost all of the boys that participated in singles were first. The team only lost to New Berlin Eisenhower.

 Earlier the team participated in the conference tournament, and they placed second.  Evan Xiong “I think that our team did really well this year at the conference considering that we got second,” he said. “ All of our singles flights did really well, but our doubles could’ve done better. But overall we did really well as a team and I’m proud of them.”

At practices players do drills with each other, practicing their serves and practicing with their coaches. These practices are important to the team because it helps them with their muscle memory and being able to control the power on the court. “At the start of practice we warm up by playing short court with a partner,” Xiong said. 

Senior Yacine Ferjani plays singles for GHS and at one point ranked top 3 in Wisconsin. He loves the competition that he plays against. “I’m a little disappointed because it’s my first year being in the states and playing high school tennis,” he said