By Adam Frank
Every day he is on the court for hours, cutting through the air with precision to ensure there is the perfect amount of topspin, or lightly tapping the ball to execute a perfect drop shot.
He trains and competes all year round in prestigious tournaments in New England and all over the country.
Junior Eli Kaganov has been playing tennis since he was kid. He credits his success to his family, especially his father, who travels around the country with him to participate in tournaments and train.
“I developed my game by practicing almost everyday and working hard on and off the court,” Kaganov said. He practices for one and a half to two hours per day during the school year, and over 2 hours per day during the summer.
He currently practices at The New England Academy of Tennis in Natick and at Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center in Dorchester.
Kaganov trains with his private coach one to two times per week. Kaganov credits his coach for helping him develop, he said.
During his freshmen year, he participated on South’s varsity tennis team. “It was a great experience, which I will never forget,” Kaganov said. “I chose to stop playing because I thought I would benefit and improve more by practicing individually.”
Kaganov was a talented player, and the team lost some talent when he left, according to senior captain of the tennis team Nicholas Reed.
“Obviously as captain it is disappointing to miss out on talent that could definitely help improve our team, but at the same time it wasn’t something he wanted to do, and it wouldn’t be my place to coerce him into playing tennis,” Reed said.
Reed believes that skill is important to a team, but commitment is crucial.
“While the sport of tennis is highly individualistic, it is also a team sport and it is important to have all members of the team highly committed,” he said. “Even with a strong player, someone who wasn’t committed would overall be a detriment to the team.”
Kaganov competed for Team New England in St. Louis, Missouri over the summer against other regions in the nation. Other than that event, Kaganov competes solo.
He has won the New England Junior Clay Court Doubles tournament, won four out of his five matches at Zonals, a prestigious tournament, placed 4th in the USTA Regional Tournament in doubles, and is currently training for the New England sectionals, the biggest tournament in New England.
According to USTA (United States Tennis Association), he is ranked 5th in Massachusetts and 302nd in the country.
Eli hopes to be recruited early next year. He is currently looking at Division 1 and 3 schools for college.
