Credit: Jason Tassinari

Freshman Elena Tan returns the ball across the court to her opponent.

In the quarterfinals of a tennis tournament, freshman Elena Tan found herself down 5-4, 40-15, against her opponent. In most tennis tournaments, the player has to win two out of three sets in order to move on, however, in this tournament they were playing to one set and her opponent was one point away from winning.

“It was hard for me mentally because I was like, ‘oh, I’m gonna lose,’” Tan said.

With Tan facing the match point, she doubted her ability to win. However, point after point, Tan was able to come back to win and move on in the tournament.

This season, Tan has risen up as the No.2 singles player for the girls varsity tennis team. With current No.1 singles player senior Isabella Camacho graduating, Tan is planning to take her spot as the No.1 singles player next season in her sophomore year.

When Tan was nine years old, she got into tennis because of her parent’s passion for the sport.

“As a kid, I grew up in a tennis environment,” Tan said. “I always watched my parents play tennis and I wanted to join in.”

Before she played tennis, Tan was a swimmer. However, after COVID-19 restrictions took place, shutdowns led to Tan focusing mainly on tennis. This change turned out to be for the better as Tan found success and passion in the sport. Tan would accompany her parents out to the tennis courts where she would watch them play.

“The moment I started actually rallying and playing with my parents was a moment where I really started loving tennis,” Tan said.

In the past, Tan has played tennis in China, and noticed that there is a difference in the environment surrounding tennis, different from the attitude around tennis in America.

“In China, it’s super competitive and the training there is for the people who really want to train seriously,” Tan said. “If you really want to play tennis [in China], quit studying, you’re only going to play tennis and be recruited by the country.”

While in China, Tan experienced a language barrier as the coaches spoke in Chinese and used terms she did not understand. Tan came to Wayland High School (WHS) at the beginning of her freshman year where she was recruited by girls varsity tennis coach Jason Tassinari after French teacher Sara Langelier informed Tassinari that there was a freshman carrying a tennis racket to school every day.

“I didn’t know how good she was,” Tassinari said. “I knew that she was tall, and I knew that she played and trained a lot, but I had never seen her play until the first day of preseason. It didn’t take us very long to realize her talent level.”

Once the season started, Tassinari’s confidence in Tan’s abilities only grew. Tassinari noticed Tan’s groundstrokes and her ability to create uncomfortable scenarios for her opponents.

“Early on in the season when we saw her play, we knew she’d be an impactful kid right away,” Tassinari said. “She made what was already a very good team even better.”

Tan is finishing the season with a 9-3 record, including a 3-1 record when filling in for Camacho as No. 1 singles, and a 5-2 record as No. 2 singles. Tassinari stated that Tan’s focus, work ethic and her perfectionism were stand out qualities of Tan’s playing, as well as her work at home.

“Off the court I do my own personal weightlifting,” Tan said. “I’ve been doing that for four years now for fun, it applies to tennis in a way, too.”

Tan’s tennis training includes using a step board to perform various drills at home to practice footwork. In addition to at home training, Tan also trains at The Thoreau Club year round.

According to freshman varsity tennis player Khushi Nagalla, Tan is not only a strong player, but also a supportive teammate with an impressive ability to keep her cool on the court.

“There are some points where she 100% has the right to be mad, but she just stays calm and collected,” Nagalla said. “She’s super humble and is always giving us compliments even when she’s [doing] better than us.”

Despite her achievements on the court, Tan said that she still feels she still has room to improve.

“My stats online don’t necessarily reflect my actual performance, and I still get nervous during my matches,” Tan said.

Tassinari said that he has high hopes for Tan’s tennis future at WHS, especially as she looks to take on No.1 singles position next season.

“I think she’ll be one of the best players in the state,” Tassinari said. “I think she already is, and I think she’s headed that way for the next three years.”