Junior Ben Rosen bounces the tennis ball twice, tosses it into the air, and fires a serve past his opponent to take the set. Rosen is not nervous, he has been here many times before. His relaxed demeanor is evident, but he is not overconfident. He takes no points for granted.
“I have fun while I’m playing but I like to close the deal and make sure that the game is in my possession before getting too excited,” said Rosen.
Since age four, Ben has been at home on the courts. He was initially introduced to the sport by his father who played in college and passed his love for the sport onto his son. He was given plenty of opportunities to play which allowed him to develop his own knack for the game.
“I would consider my dad one of my greatest role models when it comes to tennis. He’s taught me a lot of things on the court–I definitely model how I act on the court after him. I don’t get angry and throw my racket on the ground when I lose a set.”
Rosen emulates Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, one of the top players on the international tour.
“Del Potro is definitely my favorite professional tennis player because he’s exciting to watch. I try to model my own playing after him,” said Rosen.
Ben began playing for Schreiber’s varsity tennis team in the eigth grade and has maintained a stellar reputation among his teammates.
“He’s a leader on the court but he’s very humble as well,” said junior Max Mastbaum. “He is the best player that I’ve ever seen at my age.”
This year Ben’s personal record was 9-3 from the first singles position. The team record was 8-5. He has high hopes for the team in the next few years. While they will be losing many quality seniors this year, there are many promising freshman and eighth graders who will be moving up to varsity.
“This year we definitely had a strong team, a lot of good camaraderie, a lot of good freshmen with a lot of potential, a couple of good eighth graders coming up. So we’ll probably have a good team the next couple of years,” said Rosen. “Tennis is fun, that is why I continue to play.”