Gainesville Sun All-Area: Who made the 2023 all-area high school boys tennis team?

While Eastside senior Viktor Mai competitively swam growing up, he watched as his father played tennis. Eventually, his mother and older sister followed suit and made the sport a family affair.

By sixth grade, Mai joined the household trend.

“My dad got really into it,” Mai said. “He started playing all the time. After seeing that, I just got inspired, I guess from him.”

With his father being the reason Mai first picked up a tennis racket, it doesn’t come as a surprise that winning a match against his father was a big goal for Mai.

That opportunity finally came heading into Mai’s freshman year at Eastside.

“It took me the longest time to beat my dad, first of all. It was like a huge mental thing to get over that,” Mai said. “And then after that, things kinda opened up for me a little bit. A lot of confidence came with it.”

Having finally gotten over the hump of beating his old man and with his first high school tennis season quickly approaching, Mai adopted a more serious approach to his tennis game. He was playing more frequently in tournaments and spending more time on his technique.

Come his sophomore season, Mai saw his efforts pay off in a postseason match at the state semifinals.

“When I think about a match that really inspired me, I think about my tenth-grade year,” said Mai. “I was rated really low at the time and the guy I was playing had a really high ranking. I was a little scared of him to be honest. But then I got on the court, and I was playing the best I’ve ever played in my life. I was hanging with this guy who was supposedly a D1 player and was supposed to be really good and I was holding my own against him.”

That was two seasons ago.

Now, Mai is coming off his final year with the Rams’ tennis program, where he finished undefeated against Gainesville-area players, while also posting an impressive record against players from neighboring areas.

In his senior season, Mai finished 8-3 in singles competition and 6-5 on the doubles court.

Given Mai’s success, it didn’t come as a shock that his coach wanted him to consider finding a college tennis program to be a part of. However, with his eyes on a degree in nuclear engineering, Mai intends on attending the University of Florida.

However, a potential return to tennis is definitely in the cards.

“I’m not playing on the team right away, but the goal for me is to keep practicing and grinding and drilling and eventually in my second or third year, I would hope to walk on at the University of Florida as a player,” said Mai.

Gainesville Sun 2023 All-Area First Team Boys Tennis

Patrick Dong, Gainesville, sophomore – 4-2 singles, 4-2 doubles

Ben Duffaut, Gainesville, senior – 5-0 singles, 4-2 doubles

Derek Jesseman, Santa Fe, sophomore – 7-3 singles

Viktor Mai, Eastside, senior – 8-3 singles, 6-5 doubles

Michael Peters, Buchholz, sophomore – 4-0 singles, 3-0 doubles

Jacob Zeig, Buchholz, sophomore – 9-2 singles, 6-1 doubles

All-Area Second Team Boys Tennis

Nick Athearn, Santa Fe, senior – 4-0 singles, 3-0 doubles

Carson Davis, Santa Fe, senior – 5-3 singles, 1-0 doubles

Ayden Gallogly, Oak Hall, junior – 3-0 singles, 3-1 doubles

Rory Glynn, Oak Hall, freshman – 6-4 singles

Barrett Mitchell, Buchholz, freshman – 4-0 singles, 3-0 doubles

Ethan Teague, Keystone Heights, sophomore – 7-0 singles

Owen Van Boven, P.K. Yonge, 8^th – 6-2 singles, 2-0 doubles

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Meet the Gainesville Sun's 2023 All-Area boys tennis team