Tennis wasn’t a sport that Nathan Tran was looking at, but after his father introduced him to the game at the age of five, it became something that he wanted to pursue. Wachusett High School senior Tran likes the thought process of learning to improve his tennis skills and to work through the challenges that don’t come easy.

“In the beginning I was really pretty bad, but I never gave up,” he said. “When I was in middle school, I started to get better and began winning – it all became more rewarding for me.”

Tran continued to take to the tennis courts and by the time he arrived at Wachusett Regional he was ready to play for the high school. As a freshman he was placed on the doubles team, and it was a flashback to his early years with the sport.

“Playing doubles my freshman year, I have to be honest with you, I was not very good at all,” Tran said. “I was not used to be right at the net; I was more accustomed to singles where I was back further.”

It took him some time to get used to playing doubles and now that he has the two-man game down, he is more open to playing it. But as a freshman, doubles was a nightmare for the first half of the season.

As a sophomore he was able to move out of the doubles circuit and into singles play. Tran would spend the year playing third singles for the Mountaineers, a place where he was much more comfortable, despite having a few rough games during the season.

But those tough games helped Tran decide to pursue private lessons, which helped him learn new techniques and strategies that improved his game. In addition, he decided to adjust his exercise schedule: he began running to the gym, doing his workout, and then running home. Prior to his junior season on the tennis courts, he also joined the indoor track team where he ran sprints.

Running for the Wachusett track team helped him to become quicker on the court: he moved his feet much better and his game continued to steadily improve. 

Entering his fourth and final season at Wachusett, Tran was looking to keep his record above .500 while playing the best tennis that he had ever played. He was also named a captain and wanted to help lead the team and provide leadership to the younger players. 

He feels that he accomplished those goals and was able to secure a winning record for the Mountaineers at his second singles position. Despite a couple games in which could have played better, he still felt that he was very competitive with his play on the courts.

“Nathan is one that is always willing to go above and beyond for the team’s sake,” Wachusett Boys’ Tennis Coach Tony Brissette said. “He goes out of his way to help other players in any way that he can; he’s a great player and is always positive.”

Brissette went on to say that Tran had won some big matches for the team this year. On two occasions, the coach recalled Tran being very tired, but the team needed him to win his match so they could take home the victory.

“He was totally exhausted when I talked to him, but he pushed through his tiredness and won his matches,” said Brissette. “It was really impressive to watch.”

Brissette awarded Tran – for the third consecutive season - with the Coach’s Award, which best exemplifies a team player. In his 27 years of coaching tennis, Brissette has never given this award to one player three times in their career.

Now that his season and high school career have come to an end, Tran would like to continue to improve his game and take it to the next level. He will attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which takes part in Division 1 sports. Tran doesn’t believe that he could make the team, so he is planning on playing club-level tennis. In order to play at UMass, no matter the level, Tran will have to work hard this summer on his game.

Playing tennis on the next level wasn’t something that he had ever really thought of until last season when he focused on becoming fitter and more athletic, which helped him to play much better tennis.

“Playing at UMass will be a big step forward,” Tran said. “But I would have never been able to accomplish it without Coach [Brissette]. He was definitely an impact. And during my sophomore year when I truly doubted my skills, he not only believed in me but talked me into continuing.”

Now Tran would like to repay his coach by playing well on the next level – college.