By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

The 2024 boys tennis season wasn’t not one that Holliston wants to remember. The Panthers endured a year of struggles and finished with only a single win against 13 loses. With the poor season now in its rearview mirror Coach Jay Dupuis is rather optimistic about the upcoming season despite the Panthers losing their number one singles player to graduation.

“Everyone else is back, plus we have a bunch of bright new additions,” Dupuis said. “We’re going to be a really young team, but I am super excited about what I’ve seen so far.”

This spring the Holliston starting lineup will include two returning seniors, who will each be playing as half of the two doubles teams. The other five starters will include a first-year sophomore and four freshman as well as another freshman looking to crack the starting lineup definitely giving Dupuis a very young team. However, while the team may seem young on paper, their talent is off the charts and translates exceptionally well on the courts.

Senior co-captains Sohan Javali and Sebastian Dumont will each anchor one of the Panthers doubles teams. Javali (last years seconds singles) will be paired with freshman Denis Grishechkin while Dumont (last year’s third singles) will be playing with freshman Nayan Alluri.

“I like the leadership that Sohan brings being paired at first doubles with Nayan, who is young but comes with a lot of experience. Besides I’ve always thought that Sohan was better suited for doubles,” the Panther Coach said. “So far the second doubles team have been doing a real good job together.”

While the Holliston Coach had no idea that Grishechkin was coming out for the team this spring, he is extremely happy that he did. The freshman gives the Panthers yet another talent young athlete with a good forehand as well a backhand. Dupuis loves the fact that his consistency is excellent and he does not make unforced errors.

Scheduled to play first singles will be first year tennis player Cody Bloom. Unfortunately, Bloom will be sidelined for the team’s first match with an injury but he coach believes he’ll be back sooner than later.

“When he is healthy, he’s one of the best players in the entire state, let alone the league,” the Holliston Coach said. “He is a phenomenal athlete and probably the best I have ever coached during my four years at Holliston. He is a true number one and glad that he decided to come out for the team for the first time.”

Returning to the team after a two-year absence is Mark Merlis. As a freshman Merlis was one of the first to sign up but later went on to work with a personal trainer. Merlis brings a great knowledge of the game to Holliston as well as court coverage and will be holding down the second singles spot this season for the Panthers.

“Mark is a very serious tennis player, who knows that he is only going to improve his game by playing against the likes of Cody,” Dupuis said. “He has an excellent game and can do it all. His backhand is one of better ones I’ve seen and it’s the strength of his game.”

Freshman Zackary Zurita-Gavikov will start the season in the third singles position, while Denis Grishechkin will hold down the third spot. Zurita-Gavikov is already an excellent tennis player, but according to the Coach he will eventually be a phenomenal talent on the court. 

“His forehand is unreal and he has a great knowledge of the game,” Dupuis said. “I saw him as a seventh grader and was amazed; I couldn’t wait for him to get to the high school to play for me.”

In addition to the seven starters, Dupuis has two other freshman standing in the wings looking to battle it out for a spot in the starting lineup. Anshul Vompolu is another young tennis player with a bright future ahead of him as is Vishak Raja, who the coach sees as an opposing young man at the net who is fearless, but raw. However, with some training he’ll be able to take his game to the next level. Vompolu has the ability to cover the entire court and his first and second serves are top-notch. Dupuis likes his knowledge of the game and knows that the freshman will be pushing the other players in challenge matches to get playing time.

“Last year things were cut and dry with our players, this year things could turn on a dime,” the Panther coach said. “We have several outstanding freshman, which is leaving me excited about the season. I think that we’re going to surprise a lot of teams this year.”

Being that the team did not qualify for the State Tournament last year, which is Dupuis number one goal this year – get into the tournament and let’s see what happens. After that, he would love to see the team staying competitive with each and every match they play and finally wants to win more games than they lose. Dupuis feels that if the team can accomplish the last goal it will be a really big surprise to the rest of the Tri-Valley League.

“I am really looking forward to an exciting year. The captains are excited, the young kids are excited and I’m excited,” he said. “We have some good talent and a season to look forward to. Having solid returners as well as true tennis players is giving me a lot of hope. If we stay healthy, we’re going to surprise a lot of teams.”

Despite opening the season with a loss, the Panthers were able to tie last years win total with a 4-1 win over Norwood in only its second game of the season.