Palm Beach County high school tennis: Everything you need to know for the 2024 season
Palm Beach County’s high school tennis scene is normally spotlighted by private schools such as American Heritage Delray, St. Andrew’s, The Benjamin School and the Boca Raton-area public schools.
That is why it’s refreshing to see special tennis stuff going on in Riviera Beach at the academically renowned Suncoast High.
Led by coach Vladimir Gawlikowski, the Suncoast girls team at the public school that requires admittance based on high academics, is coming off a 10-4 season.
Gawlikowski feels he’s got another solid team that should give him a fourth winning season in four years. Suncoast has eight returning varsity players.
The Suncoast boys team is off to a 2-0 start and is headed by juniors Jordan Stearns and Max Weintraub.
“What makes our school special is Suncoast is one of the higher academic schools in the county,” Gawlikowsi said. “The kids don’t come in to play tennis. They’re talented in tennis and our top players play the USTA circuit on the weekends. But we don’t recruit.’’
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Gawlikowski has a unique tennis background. As a 5-year-old, he started hitting balls with the Rollins College tennis team in Winter Park. He became a three-sport athlete in high school (football, basketball, baseball) but returned to tennis at a New Jersey college after a football-related neck injury.
“I have a unique approach in letting the kids have fun,’’ he said. “That takes a lot of weight off their shoulders because they already have it in the classroom and the USTA tournaments. I allow them to play the game they love.’’
The top player is lefty Maria Petraite, a first-team All-County performer returning for her sophomore season. Senior Ava DeHass is at No. 2.
“We manage playing a full-time sport while also managing the demanding coursework Suncoast gives,’’ DeHass said. “That’s what makes our team so unique compared to other schools. We have one of the most challenging workloads.’’
Filling out the starting five singles lineup are seniors Micaela Tudor and Divya Chalasani and junior Samantha Krause.
The dean of students at Lake Worth High, Gawlikowski has a different approach than most high school tennis coaches. He stresses the antiquated yet lovely serve-and-volley game. He named his son Steffan after net-rushing legend Stefan Edberg.
“I try to teach them serve-and-volley game because that’s not what they’re taught,’’ Gawlikowski said.
Here’s a look at 11 other programs of interest.
AMERICAN HERITAGE
American Heritage Delray recorded one of the most dominant tournament runs in FHSAA history last season and ended up with a computer ranking of No. 1 in the nation.
In team play at states, the Brian Schliefer-coached school swept every team competition without dropping a match in a tantalizing display in winning the state 2A title.
But the Stallions are young now. The great Ekstrand twins have graduated — Markus is playing at Miami and Alex at Purdue. Last year, Markus posted an extremely rare state tennis triple crown — a team champion, winning the singles championship and pairing with No. 3 George Kosseifi to win doubles. (Kosseifi has also graduated and is on to Case Western.).
There still is an Ekstrand on the roster – 8th-grader Karl. The remaining starters are freshman Ajinkya Karnataki, Yanni Anagnostopoulos, eighth-grader Geoff Kosseifi, whose brother is George, and senior Ryan Rao.
The girls are led by senior Jackie Daynovsky, junior Kristina Despotuli, senior Chloe Barrett-Massad, freshman Eden Hanko and freshman Norah Smucker.
THE GREENE SCHOOL
The new school off Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach built by billionaire Jeffrey Greene has only a boys varsity. It will add a girls squad later on.
The tennis program is led by longtime ATP tennis pro Alex Bogomolov, who reached 33rd in the world. His son, Maddox, is second singles with a crafty lefty game.
Third singles is Greene’s son, Malcolm, which is likely why Greene attended the season opener vs. Cardinal Newman. Alex Brown is No. 1 singles and has a consistent repertoire.
ST. ANDREW’S
The Scots boys have won four straight state titles a 3A while the girls team’s six-in-a-row state title streak got snapped in the finals by True North.
Coached by former St. Andrew’s tennis star Reid Rafter, 70 kids are in the Scots’ tennis program, including middle school. The top varsity boys are Nico Snyder, Julian Fente and Rafael Bote. Newcomers are Gabriel Dattels and Ricardo Espaillat. The girls are boosted by Lexi Cleveland, Naomi Williams, Gia Conde and Aree Greenfield.
SPANISH RIVER
Coach John Jones has one of his younger girls squads in recent memory as many of his top spots graduated, including state doubles champions Delanie Tribby and Blanka DeMitcheli.
Sophomore Jessica Popescu is the top returning player. “She’s a tough gritty player who is very consistent and doesn’t beat herself,’’ Jones said.
Freshman Alexa Denisova, sophomore Muskan Semuel and junior Anna Armistead add young depth to a team light on seniors. “We are young and I can’t wait to see how this new team competes,’’ Jones said.
No information was provided for the Sharks boys team despite multiple requests.
KING’S ACADEMY
Head coach Scott Williams has depth for both girls and boys.
Senior Clinton Crawford is the No. 1 boys player and captain. “He’s a solid fit, a grinder of the baseline,’’ Williams said.
Xenia Ilyasova is the Lions’ No. 1 for girls in her first year at the West Palm Beach school. She’s known for her competitiveness. Mandee Perera will be strong at 2. Pia Roux and Kiley McCarty gives King’s depth.
BENJAMIN
Benjamin has a new coach for both programs Leon Oliver — a well-traveled South African who played challenger pro events across the African continent. He’s played pro tournaments in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Egypt and now comes to Palm Beach Gardens.
The top players for girls are senior Ryan Wuhrman and freshman Maria Navarro. The boys are led by freshman Chase Atkins and sophomore Ishe Makoni.
The girls made it to the state semifinals last season before losing to True North. The boys advanced to the state regional finals — one match short of the state final four.
WELLINGTON
The boys, coached by Joshua McElwain, return three starters from last year and add two new starters, both experienced.
Wellington is led by senior Kenneth Melendez who plays No. 1 singles and doubles. Melendez lost in the district finals last season.
The Wellington girls were district runner-ups last year as Scarlett Stephens won the district singles title, making it to the state tournament. Along with Stephens, Kiera Uter, a state qualifier from 2022, returns to the program.
The girls, led by first-year coach Peter Lang, also are adding three savvy freshmen to make up the starting five in their quest to qualify for states as a team.
They are Laasya Movva, Jayden Jaraczewski and Raya Dittfurth.
ST. JOHN PAUL
Coach AnnMarie Tabano-Chiste is eyeing a district title for her boys and girls teams so she put together a competitive 20-match regular season to better prepare them. It started with wins over Jupiter Christian and Cardinal Newman.
Third-year varsity starter junior Kayden Collins is No. 1. “Kayden is a fearless competitor," Chiste said.
The boys team also includes returning players Colin Gheorghe, Ryder Simmel and Zane Tankersley as well as newcomers Danny Strandberg, and Christian and Daniel Naya.
The girls have another third-year varsity starter in junior Isabella Zidziunas plus a newcomer, freshman Blaise Nobile. Returning to the girls squad are Jasmine Walser Lopez and Abby VonGunten.
CARDINAL NEWMAN
Veteran coach Bill Sanis, who’s taught tennis for 50 years, has a potent top three in Jenna Delmarsh, Logan Ray and Julia Brown, all of whom are juniors. Delmarsh is ranked 32nd in Florida USTA’s 16U. The Crusaders' girls will be a force.
The boys are led by No. 1 Noah Janus, a 6-foot-4 serving gunslinger. Cardinal Newman’s practice facility is the clay courts of The Tennis Club of Palm Beach, sharing the grounds with the Dreyfoos School of the Arts.
JUPITER
At the top of Jupiter’s girls lineup are Gabriella Michels and Gianna Panaggio with new up-and-coming freshmen Sianny Panaggio and Darcy Paulson. Gianna Panaggio sat out last season and is back on the squad to join her sister.
For the boys, junior Paul Gielen moves up from No. 2 to first singles but coach John Babcock calls it “a rebuilding year."
DR. JOAQUIN GARCIA
It’s not easy to start up a tennis program. The first-year public high school in Lake Worth will go through growing pains in its inaugural year after a modest seven-player turnout. The top boys player is freshman Rafael Roca. The girls No. 1 is Melaney Szaplaj. The coaches are Alyson Nygren and Lhisa Almashy.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County high school tennis: What to know for the 2024 season
