By Molly Mercaldo – Entertainment Editor

Monica Pydipati is a junior captain on the Jonathan Law girls tennis team.

Pydipati has been on the team since her freshman year, but has been playing tennis for almost 13 years overall. She is the team’s No. 1 singles players and recently qualified for the State Open Individual Tennis Tournament for the second year in a row.

“My favorite part would have to be the adrenaline rush that comes after winning a particularly difficult match,” Pydipati said.

Pydipati has been a valuable asset to the team and is continuing to practice and improve for the rest of the season. Her record is 6-4 so far this season.

“Monica has worked so hard the last three years and is now one of the best kids in our league,” head coach Mr. Kulenych said. “She’s too humble to call herself a star, but she’s a star. She’s someone we can always count on to compete against the best players and win big matches for us.”

Last year, Pydipati made it to states in singles and her goal was to qualify again this season.

“I wanted to make states individually again, as well as be named to the All-SCC team this year,” Pydipati said.

Pydipati also aspires to break career record for wins which is currently held by Victoria Contaxis and Emma Shea with 49.

She is currently a co-captain and she hopes to be a team captain next year as well.

“Monica is very dedicated and she’s funny and a really good friend to the team,” freshman Umnia Rahman said.

Pydipati started her high school career off playing doubles before moving to singles halfway through her freshman year.

She believes that the team has improved over the course of the season and said it has been visible during matches.

Pydipati believes that in tennis, “Success is about learning from your mistakes. Only by knowing what you did wrong will you be able to fix it.”

Kulenych said that Pydipati never shies away from the pressure of being the team’s top player.

“Playing 1 singles is a grind, but Monica is so mentally tough,” Kulenych said. “It’s not easy knowing that people expect you to win a lot of your matches, but the pressure never gets to her. She always steps up when we need her most.”