Greenhills Boys Tennis Reboots for an Outstanding Season

With seven players graduating in 2023, the Greenhills boys tennis team rebuilt and recalibrated its young and talented roster this year. The results speak for themselves. The team closed the regular season with a record of 19-5 overall, and 5-1 in the Catholic league.

“Our top two guys from last season are both playing Division III tennis this year – Rishi Verma ‘23 at Swarthmore College and Chakor Rajendra ‘23 at Johns Hopkins,” said Head Coach Eric Gajar, who has led the Greenhills varsity team since 1994. “We have a handful of players who are back, and a higher number of freshmen on the varsity than usual.”

The key to their success, according to Gajar, has been ensuring that the new varsity players obtain as much match experience as possible against different quality opponents and different teams, as well as instilling in them the “Greenhills way” of competing.

“Assistant Head Coach Mark Randolph and I really stress our program’s values, which are to let our racquets do the talking,” Gajar continued. “High class, low profile is our mantra. As representatives of Greenhills, we respect our opponents, other teams, and the game. We tell the boys to compete hard and make friends.”

At the Catholic League tournament in late September the team finished second, behind Cranbrook, finishing ahead of division one powers Brother Rice and Catholic Central. Coming up is a much-anticipated match against Ann Arbor Pioneer to close out the regular season. Greenhills looks to continue its five-year winning streak over other Ann Arbor high schools, after beating Huron High School, Skyline, and Father Gabriel Richard earlier this year.

Last week, for the 19th time, the Gryphons hosted the MHSAA regional championships, sweeping the tournament in dominant fashion by winning all eight flights. It’s the 29th year under Coach Gajar that the team has qualified for the state tournament, which will be held this year at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, on October 20 and 21. Greenhills boys tennis won last year’s state title, and four of the previous six.

“We’re hoping to have everyone healthy, and also to reconnect with many alums of the tennis program, who often show up when they can to support the team at regionals and states,” said Gajar. “It’s just a fantastic testament to the close-knit relationships these guys forge with each other and the school.”