Montgomery's Shrivastava is Courier News 2017 Tennis Player of Year
Rhea Shrivastava signed up for a tennis team and ended up finding a family.
Preseason workouts and pasta parties and so many laughs – the moments when the junior bonded with the members of the Montgomery High School girls tennis team are forever etched in her mind.
It didn’t take long for Shrivastava, a star for many years on the United States Tennis Association circuit, to feel as if she had been a Cougar all along.
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“I think I was nervous going in because I was a junior already and it’s a little bit strange for a junior to be joining the team,” Shrivastava said. “But I knew a couple of the girls on the team already and I think from the first day of preseason, everyone was super nice. I think everyone was really welcoming. I felt welcomed right away.”
With the team rallying behind her, Shrivastava turned in a brilliant season at first singles. The 2017 Courier News Girls Tennis Player of the Year went 19-1, leading Montgomery to the state Group IV team title. The Cougars even made a run at the Tournament of Champions crown before falling to Holmdel in the semifinals.
Her only loss of the season came against Anna Brylin of Millburn, 7-5, 6-1. Shrivastava, however, had already played a match earlier that day and wasn’t just locked in battle with a five-star rated senior, but also fatigue. Otherwise, she didn’t lose a set all season.
She didn’t play in the state singles tournament, but she had a few challenging matches. One of the most memorable came in the Group IV final, when she fended off Watchung Hills' talented freshman Sydney Sharma, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). She also beat Sharma two other times during the fall.
Montgomery coach Raheel Saleem said that although Shrivastava wasn’t one of the captains, she acted like one. She exuded calmness and poise that filtered through the rest of the team. Players such as Alex Mednikova got even better from hitting with Shrivastava in practice.
Shrivastava was always willing to dispense some of the knowledge she has acquired while playing competitively since she was seven. For Saleem, it was like having another coach on the team.
“My third singles was struggling a little bit and I had asked Rhea to hit with her and kind of see if she was seeing something because I was working with her,” he said. “I remember the conversation she was having with my third singles at the time. Then her game, like the next day, was getting better. She said, ‘Rhea gave me some feedback, something with my backswing that I wasn’t doing correctly.’”
Shrivastava’s schedule was already packed with homework and USTA matches, so she wasn’t sure she would be able to squeeze in high school matches, too. She went to Mednikova for advice.
“She was saying how much fun it was and how it didn’t take too much time out of her schedule,” Shrivastava said. “There was still time to do stuff. She had such a good experience that I just wanted to give it a try. Why wait. Even though it’s late, it’s better than never.”
The experience of being on a team was a revelation for Shrivastava. The girl who wasn’t sure she would be accepted by her teammates felt their absence when she returned to USTA play.
“I had a tournament in October and having played so much with the team, going to that one and not knowing too many people there, it was a different experience,” she said. “I had to play by myself and I was missing my team so much.”
She is already looking forward to next fall, but first she has a demanding schedule of USTA tournaments lined up. She’s planning on playing in a few in California over the summer.
Shrivastava will also start to weigh her college options. She’s looking for a school that will challenge her academically and give her the opportunity to continue to play tennis.
Luckily, her older sister, Sonal, who plays at Yale, knows a thing or two about picking a college.
“She has been through the whole process of recruitment and stuff like that,” Rhea said. “I don’t really know what path I want to go on and she’s helping me through that.”