Menlo News May 31, 2025

Boys’ tennis closes season as state finalist

Knights (29-2) fall to University-Irvine 4-3

Boys’ tennis at state championships 2025

Captain Lucas Ying gives a medal to fellow senior Stefan Perkovic during Saturday’s award ceremony.

Menlo junior Yuanye Ma won at No. 2 singles

Sophomores Surya De Datta and Lucas Huang prevailed at No. 1 doubles against University

Menlo senior Cooper Han fires a shot at center court

Coach Francis Sargeant talk with No.1 doubles team Surya De Datta, left and Lucas Huang on the changeover.

Kavan Kumar cheers on Arki Temsamani and Riley Huang

Freshman Riley Huang celebrates a point

Menlo sophomore David Lipeles plays No. 3 singles

Menlo freshman James Park competes in No. 4 singles

For many reasons, the Menlo boys didn’t want the tennis season to end, but the state championships was the final rung of the ladder.

The Knights fought to the finish, going toe to toe with University-Irvine before falling 4-3 in the state championship Saturday at Sierra Sport and Racquet Club in Fresno.

“Playing in the Menlo tennis program has been fantastic,” said senior captain Kavan Kumar. “Although we lost 4-3 in one of the tightest matches, I’m so grateful to be in this position to play tennis at Menlo, and I’ll keep this with me the rest of my life.”

Menlo finished 29-2 with its only losses coming to University, the first time in the National Invitational semis. Menlo tennis had its winningest season since Bill Shine’s 2018 team, which went 29-0 and won NorCals, CCS and the National Invitational Tournament. The state tournament began last year, and after advancing to the 2024 NorCal semifinals, the boys vowed to make state this season.

The players practiced in fleece sweats and compression shirts in preparation for the 104-degree temperatures forecast for Central California, and played with passion.

University took a 2-0 lead before the sophomore duo of Lucas Huang and Surya De Datta came back with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-0 win at No.1 doubles. Junior Yuanye Ma won in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2 singles, and Menlo trailed 3-2 with two matches on. Senior captains Kavan Kumar and Ben Levin closed the day with a Menlo win at No 3 doubles, coming back in a second set 6-4, then winning a third-set tiebreak.

“It’s been quite a journey. The boys had an amazing season. After the match, more than anything, being a part of the Menlo tennis team is more than just wins and losses,” First-year coach Francis Sargeant said. “We had a strong team, and we did win a lot, but it’s more about the relationships you make, the journey, the meals together, the trips together, and training together. In terms of that, the boys are super tight; they get on really well and that’s what helped them get those results.”

The team had goals not results wise, but to get even tougher, have disciplined practices and having fun. “They hit those marks as a team,” first-year coach Francis Sargeant said. “Obviously, it’s super painful to lose at that last hurdle, but I think when the dust settles, they’ll look back and say what an amazing season, and especially for the seniors, that the tennis team was one of the best parts of Menlo.”

The team had a perfect run through the West Bay Athletic League, and kept alive its streak of winning dual matches victories.

“The entire season, we put so much effort in, and I think the results are a product of our effort,” Kumar said. “We’ve grown so much in a culture as a team - we’re like a family now. It’s going to be super hard to leave these guys. We’ve grown in maturity and intense ability this entire season.”

For Ben Levin, who with Kumar and Lucas Ying, made up the senior captain trio, the match marked the end of their prep careers, which started with Shine and ended with new coach Sargeant. Shine has been a volunteer coach and been to a majority of the Knights’ matches, along with assistant Mike Tamas.

“The whole season we were working to get better, but we were also looking to get as far as we could. We were really excited to get to this match and play well in it,” said Levin, who played in the NorCal final and state with his sophomore-year partner Kumar. “We’re proud of how we played. When Coach Francis came in on the first day, he said two things: We want to make sure we’re having fun and we want to make sure we all get better, and we definitely did that.”

University 4, Menlo 3

at Sierra Sport and Racquet Club

Singles

Rishvanth Krishna (U) d. Cooper Han 7-3, 6-4

Yuanke Ma (M) d. JiHyuk Im 7-5, 6-3

Arystartarkh Lec (U) d. David Lipeles 6-2, 6-3

Daniel Zhu (U) d. James Park 6-1, 6-0

Doubles

Lucas Hung-Surya De Datta (M) d. Humann Alajeely / Walert-Wu 6-0, 3-6, 6-0

Tyler Chandler-Reid Hashimoto (U) d. Arki Temsamani-Riley Huang 6-4, 7-5

Kavan Kumar-Ben Levin (M) d.Joseph Chan-Cedric Lichtsteiner