PDS’ Gupta triumphs in state tourney

Sophomore helps Panthers finish fourth

By: Justin Feil
   Midway through the season, Vikram Gupta wasn’t feeling good about his tennis.
   The Princeton Day School sophomore began the year playing in the second singles slot after the Panthers’ first singles’ Jon Headley was injured. Eventually, Gupta returned to third singles, but his game wasn’t progressing as quickly as he would have liked.
   "I started out slowly," said the Princeton resident. "I wasn’t playing well. Then in a match against Peddie, I blew up. I played my worst match ever, and after that match the coach talked to me for about 20 minutes. He talked about trying to finish matches.
   "From that point on, I started trying to finish out all my matches. If I was down, I tried to finish out my matches. And after the Mercer County Tournament, I went on a six-game winning streak and our team won a few."
   That momentum and, most importantly, that mid-season lesson, proved crucial in the Prep B state tournament for Gupta. Things looked bleak when he lost his very first set in the quarterfinals to Solomon Schechter’s Marc Ohringer before he rallied for a three-set win.
   In the semifinals, Gupta had every reason to surrender after losing the first set and trailing the second set, 2-0, to Morristown-Beard’s Jared Kanefsky, yet he pulled out another three-set win on Sunday.
   Gupta was unstoppable in the finals as he steamrolled Saddle River Day’s Chris Sauer, 6-1, 6-1, for his first state championship. PDS was fourth as a team.
   "I was talking to our coach before and he was telling me things about last year and how PDS usually does well," Gupta said. "We have a pretty strong team this year, I thought. We had a lot of youth on the team. We all thought we were going to do really well.
   "A lot of us actually did really well. Three lost in the quarters and one in the semis and I won the finals. We ended up fourth. We had a lot of confidence going into the tournament."
   For Gupta, that paid off after a start to the tournament that mirrored his slow start to the season. But he was able to pull out two big three-set wins to reach Monday’s final and finish his season on a high note.
   "The whole day (Sunday), I had to sit there for a long time," he said. "When I was finally called to play it was around 1 o’clock and he won the first three games. Then I realized I wasn’t playing well at all. I guess I was kind of tired and wasn’t in the mood to play. But then I pulled out the match.
   "I lost the first set of the semis then, 6-2, and I kind of gave up after it was 4-1. I was down, 2-0, and I was ready to give up when my coach told me I was a lot more talented than him and he wanted me to come back."
   It was enough to jump-start Gupta’s motor and he rallied to regain his edge and go on to the win.
   "I had confidence before I came in," said Gupta, who went 11-7 this season for the Panthers. "When I started, I just couldn’t serve right, I couldn’t hit the ball right. I don’t know what was wrong with me. After I made it 2-1 in the second set, I played a smart game and from there I started playing well. The kid was left-handed, so that made it tougher. I finished it out strong, and then I had a lot of confidence going into the last match."
   "It was not a match," said PDS assistant Will Asch. "He has beautiful strokes and he just has trouble moving as well as some other kids. He’s really worked on his footwork and his play at the net. I’m sure the other kid was impressed. It was not a good match at all."
   Gupta stands to impress plenty of players in the coming years. After playing JV last year for the Panthers, he made the jump from an oftentimes varsity practice player to a full-time contributor this season.
   "Our top three were all pretty close in ability," Asch said. "He’s a sophomore and wasn’t as confident at the beginning of the season. He lost to second singles in all the challenge matches, but you could see he’s talented. If he works on his game, he could be a good first singles player."
   And with the happy ending to his season in mind, Gupta is looking forward to that chance next year.
   "I definitely ended the season strong," he said, "and that should give me confidence for next year. Next year, I should be No. 1 with both seniors leaving. Hopefully next year we’ll have a strong year."