Four-time state champ headlines talented tennis senior class that lost final season
They knew the chance for a return was bleak in mid-March as the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to spring sports, but a group of South Florida’s top high school tennis players still held out hope they would get to finish their season.
A key reason, they thought: Tennis is naturally a socially distant sport. Players stay on either side of their 78-foot court and there’s minimal physical interaction during a given match.
Unfortunately for them, the decision was taken out of their hands. The Florida High School Athletic Association officially canceled all spring sports April 20, putting an early end to what could have been another successful season of high school tennis in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
And this year’s senior class in particular was looking for another strong finish.
A four-time state champion
The most decorated player among South Florida’s seniors is Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest’s David Lins, a blue-chip prospect bound for Harvard.
The two-time Miami Herald Broward Boys Tennis Player of the Year went 42-1 during his high school career and won four individual state titles, sweeping the Class 2A singles and doubles competitions as a freshman in 2017 and a junior in 2019.
He missed time as a sophomore in 2018 but still helped Pine Crest advance to the Class 2A state championship, where the Panthers lost 4-1 to Montverde Academy.
The Tennis Recruiting Network ranked Lins as the No. 4 overall prospect in Florida.
Looking for three-peats
The Miami Palmetto boys and Doral Academy girls were both eyeing a rare three-peat this year after winning team state titles in both 2018 and 2019.
Palmetto stormed through the competition at state each of the last two years, sweeping five of six opponents in Lake Nona as the Panthers won back-to-back Class 4A titles. The Palmetto boys team had two seniors on its roster this year: Cole Gibson, who will be playing tennis at Division III Wilkes University, and Kevin Li, who is heading to New York University and intends to walk on to their tennis team.
The Doral Academy girls put up a similarly impressive showing in Class 3A over the past two years, winning the first two girls state tennis titles in school history. Adriana Lamothe is the team’s only senior.
In addition to Palmetto and Doral, the Miami Dr. Krop girls (Class 4A) and Miami Gulliver Prep boys and girls (Class 2A) were defending team state champions.
More standouts
▪ Juliana Martinez, who spent her first three years of high school at Krop before transferring to Miami Country Day as a senior, won a state championship either as a team or an individual each of the last three years. She played on the No. 2 court as a junior and the No. 3 court as a freshman during Krop’s state title runs. Martinez also won the Class 4A individual doubles title in 2018 with Camila Ordonez. She is heading to Bradley University next year.
▪ Miami Ferguson’s Jordana Ossa won the Class 4A individual doubles title last season with Annie Carrera. Ossa will play collegiately at Wisconsin.
▪ Gulliver Prep’s Chiara Von Gerlach played at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles for Gulliver Prep’s 2019 Class 2A state championship team. She also finished as the Class 2A individual doubles state runner-up with Sofia Restrepo in 2018.
▪ Palmetto’s Alyssa Hayduk, who signed to play at Samford, won a team state title with the Panthers in 2018.
▪ Parkland Stoneman Douglas’ Lekha Varudandi played on the No. 1 court for the Eagles and helped them reach the state semifinals last season. She will play collegiately at Mercer.
▪ Isabella Leano, who helped Miami Carrollton reach the Class 1A state semifinals each of the last two years, will play collegiately at LaSalle University.
This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 11:26 AM.
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