The Menlo boys tennis team came out victorious in the third annual Bay Area Classic tournament on March 11 and 12. 

The Knights beat San Dieguito 7-0, Homestead 7-0 and Cupertino 5-2 to progress to the championship match. In the final, Menlo started out strong with a 3-0 lead against San Diego’s Canyon Crest Academy and battled to win 5-2. 

The Menlo boys came together throughout and contributed to the tournament to ensure a victory. In No.1 doubles, senior Rishi Jain paired with sophomore Evan Burnett three times and once with fellow senior Nishan Rajavasireddy to go 4-0. Rajavasireddy then teamed with junior Tudor Baicu to go 3-0 in No. 2 doubles. Senior duo Alex Volgin and Rohan Shah won twice in No. 2 doubles and twice in No. 3 doubles to come out with a 4-0 record. 

In singles matches, three separate Knights went 3-1. To top it off,  Braicu went 2-1 and Volgin tossed in an additional singles win. 

Menlo placed third in the tournament in 2019 and beat out Monta Vista in a COVID-modified version of the tournament last year. 

“The team was missing players due to travel and injuries, so it’s great that we were still able to knock down some of the other good teams,” Jain said. “We have our big Newport tournament coming up in less than two weeks, so we need to practice hard and focus if we are going to have a shot at winning.”

Then, after beating Nueva 7-0 in a match on Monday, March 14, the Knights now move on in their season with an undefeated 9-0 win streak. Menlo will face off against The King’s Academy on March 22 before taking on some of their toughest competition yet at the National Invitational in Newport Beach on March 25 and 26.