Essi has been playing tennis since the age of five, and she began competing in tournaments at age 11. She began her tennis career at Bosse Sports in Sudbury.

Essi practices tennis three times a week and tries to play in tournaments almost every weekend. She trains at a clinic at the club Thoreau in Concord and takes lessons with her coach once a week.

In the Girls’ 16 category for New England, Essi is ranked 25 for singles and 23 for doubles.

Essi prefers playing doubles because she has more fun and likes playing at the net.

“It’s a really emotional sport because there’s a lot of pressure that’s put onto you,” Essi said. “You can’t look at your team if you lose and say it was from everyone. There’s a lot of pressure, but it’s motivating.”

Essi appreciates that tennis is an individual sport. Although it’s a source of pressure, Essi cites this independence as one of her favorite aspects of playing tennis.

“I like individually playing a sport; I just focus better and excel more. You can control what you can do with it,” Essi said. “You know where you want to hit the shot.”

“I always have the mentality when I go onto the court that every match matters,” Essi said.

Having always played in clinics and for club teams, this year will be Essi’s first as a member of a Wayland school team.

“It will be fun to meet new people and be part of a team on the high school,” Essi said.

Essi plans to continue playing tennis throughout high school and plans on playing in college as well.