“I got into tennis because my mom put me in lessons when I was in fifth grade, and though I didn’t like it at first, some of my friends were in it, which convinced me to stay,” said Nikhil Janas.

Janas went to middle school at Leonardo da Vinci School and has been playing tennis for about 6 or 7 years now. 

Here at NDA Janas plays #1 doubles with Evan Ertman.  The varsity tennis team is currently undefeated in conference play.

Ironically, Janas was inspired to play tennis because of the hustle and scrapping for every point he could get.

“For some reason, I love trying to get the ball even if I have no chance,” he explained.

His favorite tennis meet was the final JV conference meet last year playing with Pietro Auricchio as #1 doubles, and their last game was for first place in conference.

Janas said, “Even though we lost the first set, we came back in the second set and won the tiebreaker. It was a grind, but it was very fun and rewarding.”

He encourages people to play tennis because It’s great exercise and is a lifelong sport. 

Even though it is a really hard game to master, it’s pretty easy for most people to pick up the basics and have a fun time playing with friends.

Tennis is Janas’s favorite sport to play but basketball is his favorite sport to follow. 

He also plays golf with his family and friends, just for fun, and also plays basketball with his dad and brother. 

“Some people I am grateful for that have encouraged me through playing tennis are my parents and my sister who would play tennis with me all the time and my tennis coach who taught me the importance of good technique,” said the junior.

He doesn’t work anywhere, but he volunteers a lot and, some interesting facts about Janas are that he can solve a Rubik’s cube in under a minute, and he can juggle three tennis balls. 

“My personal record for bouncing a ball up on the frame of my racquet is 54 times in a row,” he added.

Some hobbies he has outside of tennis are hanging out with his friends, baking, playing guitar, golf and playing basketball with his little brother.