Girls tennis: How Arlington's April Wang plans to one-up an undefeated season

For the success that April Wang enjoyed last fall and, with that, the elevation of the Arlington girls tennis team, a debt of gratitude is owed to Li-Jun Yuan and Ziping Wang.

Of course, April is thankful for the encouragement of her parents and their willingness to “sacrifice their time” and drive her all over to tennis-related events. But, let not their contributions on the court be overlooked.

Despite what was described as a relative lack of talent and experience in athletics, they often are enthusiastic practice partners, helping their daughter meliorate her skills.

“My dad used to play some ping pong, but that’s about it,” April said with a chuckle. “They’d basically just hand-feed me the ball.”

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Essentially, their presence offered her two make-believe opponents to angle the ball away from on her returns. And some laughs.

But those offseason sessions helped reinforce some of the fundamentals and techniques she had learned from her scholastic and club coaches.

That work helped produce a breakout autumn in which April progressed from a doubles player and went undefeated at first singles in the regular season, leading Arlington to a share of its league title.

“Our team had a great season and it’s something we’re really proud of,” said April, who now is a rising senior. “Besides the good record, we were excited to see how much we’d all improved, knowing that we got what we worked for.”

Because the Admirals had graduated a slew of seniors following a solid run the previous year and the circumstances would require this group adjust to new roles and responsibilities.

Among them was April shifting from second doubles to their lead singles player. The transition was seemingly smooth as the junior went 11-0 individually, qualified for the Section 1 championships, and advanced through two rounds against excellent competition. That’s no small task for a Dutchess County player in a field dominated by Westchester standouts.

“It meant a lot to me to get that far because there’s a lot of talent in the section and those girls are good,” said April, who eventually lost to the No. 2 seed in the round of 16. “But it showed me what I need to work on and how much better I need to be.”

That she has accomplished as a relative newcomer to the sport is reason to believe there still is considerable room for growth.

April Wang didn’t begin playing tennis until the summer before ninth grade and even then, she said, she considered it a “side sport.” Gymnastics had long been her passion and it remained her focus until a foot injury as a freshman prompted her to give it up.

Tennis still was “for fun,” but a promising sophomore year fueled a competitive drive and made her wonder what her ceiling was. As well, she said, the background in gymnastics aided in her flexibility and discipline.

“I was more motivated going into my junior year and I started taking it more seriously,” she said. “The progress wasn’t linear, there were ups and downs, but I was determined to get better.”

She played almost every day at Sportsplex New Windsor, working sometimes alone or with Newburgh star Vivienne Bucci, or with her parents.

April also often leaned on her older brother for pointers. Tyler Wang once starred for the Arlington boys tennis team and the current Stony Brook University student serves as a ready tennis resource for April.

“I started playing at 14, which is really late, but it doesn’t mean you can’t learn and do well,” said April, who called Tyler her biggest tennis influence.” “You can change course, learn something new and have success with it.”

The goal, of course, is to have even more success this fall. She’ll be among the senior leaders for Arlington and part of a core of experienced players that includes Rachel Lee, Yashaswini Bonthu and Dakota Jimenez under coach David Gatta. The Admirals, typically are rivaled in the league by John Jay-East Fishkill.

April has spent much of this offseason working out and tinkering with her game, particularly her serve, approach shots and movement. As well, she said, there is an emphasis on becoming more aggressive and less reliant on her “defensive counterpunching” style.

“I’m really hyped for senior season,” she said. “There’s some pressure on me after last season, but I’m going to get too stressed. My teammates and I expect to keep improving, and we’re gonna enjoy it.”

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Girls tennis: How Arlington's April Wang plans to one-up an undefeated season