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Sports

Local Middle Schooler Rising in the Tennis Ranks

Payam Ahmadi working hard in regional, national tournaments.

Between the championship-winning basketball teams, travel team soccer and singles trophies on the tennis court, picking one sport was a tough choice for Reston resident Payam Ahmadi.

Ahmadi ultimately decided to stick with tennis at age 10 and hasn’t looked back.  The decision turned out to be a wise one, as Ahmadi is now ranked No. 4 in the Boys 12-and-under division in the Mid-Atlantic region.

“I realized that tennis would give me a better chance at a college scholarship, and it was a sport that I felt like I hadn’t fulfilled my potential in yet,” said Ahmadi.

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Ahmadi now spends four days a week at Fairfax Racquet Club, training for up to two hours at a time under the watchful eye of his coach, Vinh Do.  He travels around the region for roughly 20 weekends every year, competing in some of the biggest junior tournaments in Maryland, Virginia, and DC.

Combining tennis with several honors level courses as a seventh grader at Rachel Carson Middle School in Herndon is a tough schedule. However, Ahmadi said he has learned to take his workload in stride.

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“It was a little bit difficult when I was younger, but then you get used to it because you learn to be more disciplined,” said Ahmadi.

After his success in his own age group, Ahmadi has recently moved up to 14-and-under tournaments, where he is currently ranked among the top 25 in the Mid-Atlantic region. Many of the things that he is currently working on with Vinh are modeled around the game of David Ferrer, one of the top 10 players in the world, and designed to help him make the transition into an older age bracket.

“In the 12s, its more about being consistent and how long you can stay in a rally for,” said Ahmadi. “In the 14s, speed and footwork become more important and the players are beginning to develop weapons that they can win free points with.”

Ahmadi still competes in national level 12-and-under events and had his first taste of international level competition at the end of last year, competing in the qualifying rounds for the Orange Bowl in Key Biscayne, FL.

“Playing that event was a really valuable experience for me,” said Ahmadi. “The competitors at that level all acted very professionally and you didn’t see a lot of outbursts from them. You could tell they were confident in what they were doing out on the court.”

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