Providence Day’s Shaurya Bharadwaj headlines the 2023 All-Observer boys tennis team
Providence Day junior Shaurya Bharadwaj is the Charlotte Observer boys’ tennis player of the year after going a perfect 26-0 overall on the court this season.
Bharadwaj, who is ranked top 15 nationally in his class, was 14-0 at No. 1 singles and 12-0 in doubles’ play for the Chargers, who were 18-1 as a team and were NCISAA Division I state runners-up.
▪ Pine Lake Prep’s Cameron Powell is boys’ tennis coach of the year after leading the Pride to the 2A state championship with a 6-3 win over Raleigh Charter in the finals.
Pine Lake Prep was awarded co-state champions with Raleigh Charter in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Powell led Pine Lake Prep (18-3) to seven straight victories to close out the season with a title.
All Observer First Team
SINGLES
Shaurya Bharadwaj, Providence Day, Jr.: The Chargers’ No. 1 player was 26-0 (singles/doubles combined) on the court and is ranked among the top junior players in the country.
Nikhil Deshpande, Langtree Charter, So.: The Lions’ star won his second consecutive 1A state singles’ championship.
Jackson Grathwohl, Pine Lake Prep, Fr.: The Prides’ No. 1 singles’ player advanced to the 2A state singles’ quarterfinals and was part of the doubles’ team that clinched the 2A state dual championship for his team.
Jesus Espinoza, Hough, Jr.: The Huskies’ star was Queen City Athletic conference singles’ champion.
Ellis Klaunduch, Lake Norman, Sr.: The Hillsdale College (MI) commit was 4A state singles’ runner-up,
Isaac Szilagyi, Cannon School, Jr.: The Cougars’ all-state, all-CISAA conference performer was 13-3 in singles’ play with two of losses coming to Bharadwaj, while also leading Cannon School (14-6) to the NCISAA Division I quarterfinals.
Jayden Wellman, A.L. Brown, Sr.: Wonders’ senior finished off his high school career by reaching the 4A state singles’ semifinals.
DOUBLES
Luke Breen, Sr., Jack Shields, Jr., Community School of Davidson, Jr.: The Spartans’ duo capped their season with a 2A state championship.
Grant Partridge, Jr., Daniel Rohlman, Jr., Providence: The Panthers’ duo won the Southwestern 4A conference title and were 4A West Regional and 4A state runners-up. They also helped Providence (16-1) to a 4A state runner-up finish.
Jason Ratledge, Sr., Connor Yett, Fr., Myers Park: The Mustangs’ doubles’ team was SoMeck 4A conference and 4A Western Regional champions. The duo also advanced to the 4A state quarterfinals and led the Myers Park tennis team to an 18-1 record, 4A state semifinals run.
All-Observer Second Team
SINGLES
James Dover, South Point, So.
Hamilton Huitt, Covenant Day, So.
Renat Kramin, Providence Day, So.
Abhiram Parim, Lake Norman Charter, Sr.
Jack Pestana, Davidson Day, Jr.
Jacob Rinker, Northwest Cabarrus, Sr.
Toby Stamps, Providence, So.
Luke Thompson, South Mecklenburg, So.
DOUBLES
Sean Huynh, Sr./Charlie Schild, Jr., Lake Norman Charter.
Henry Ridge, Jr./Shreyas Reddy, Jr., Ardrey Kell.
Arunabh Phukan, So./Sai Srihan Narreddi, Fr., Cuthbertson.
Honorable Mention
Owen Akers, Carmel Christian, Jr.; Alex Bhargava, Central Academy, Sr.; Colin Cerminara, Davidson Day, 8th-grade; Andrew Chen, Charlotte Latin, So.;. Kyriakos Karampourniotis, Gaston Christian, Sr.; Piero Rovalino, Lincolnton, Jr.
