Every conference has something to look forward to this boys tennis season.
Have a look below at the main boys tennis storylines this season — one for each conference — that expands on certain players, teams, coaches and more heading into the spring of 2026.
If you feel we missed something, let us know.
State singles/doubles tournaments move up
After seeing the state singles and doubles tournaments end between June 12-17 the past five years, the finals for both individual events this year are scheduled for June 7. That lines up with when the tournaments previously finished up in 2019 and prior.
The past few seasons have seen some of the state’s best players especially from the non-public programs like Newark Academy, Pingry and others have to skip the state singles and doubles tournaments due to the later start and end dates. Some private schools end their year before public schools, forcing players to choose between graduation and the tournament. The earlier dates beginning this year again should help alleviate that problem and ensure top players can compete.
Are there any one and done players?
Speaking of the state singles tournament, in two of the past three years, there have been singles champions as seniors who only played one year of high school tennis. Liam Kilmer and Lucas Rao followed that path in 2023 and 2025, respectively.
Adding to the trophy case
Haddonfield has won 22 straight sectional titles. Delbarton has captured nine consecutive Morris County Tournament titles including 22 in the last 23 seasons and 39 all-time. Wayne Hills has won the last 20 Passaic County Tournament titles.
Westfield enters the season having won the previous four Union County Tournament crowns. Pingry has streaks going of five consecutive Somerset County Tournament championships and four Prep A titles. St. Peter’s Prep has taken the last four Hudson County Tournament titles as well.
While the other teams are pushed year in and year out, Haddonfield cruises every year to its championship. But after graduating the bulk of the starting lineup from last year, maybe this is the year the Bulldawgs get upset.
Encore, encore
West Windsor-Plainsboro South went 25-0 last spring including 7-0 in the CVC Colonial Division. The Pirates won the Group 3 title, the Central, Group 3 crown, the Bryan Bennett Memorial Tournament, the Moorestown Classic and the Blue Devil Invitational.
However, WW-PS graduated four strong senior starters leaving holes to fill this season. But the Pirates have plenty of talented reserves who can step right in and not miss a beat like senior Karthik Buddhidinesh, and freshmen like Pavan Buddhidinesh, Saheb Manku and Arnav Badis who can crack the lineup.
The CVC is tough and WW-PS’ schedule is daunting just as last year’s was so it won’t be easy, but the Pirates are more than capable of repeating their success this spring.
Will anybody get hot late?
Like the weather warms up, teams often play better in May and June than they do March. Early in the season, players are still recovering from any lingering injuries, lineups are being formed and sometimes rust is shaken off. A team like Ridgewood last year got healthy and had its top starting seven for the postseason, and it went all the way to capture the Group 4 title. The Maroons also saw their first doubles pair of Ethan Rosenberg and Ben Caradonna win the state doubles tournament. Rosenberg and Caradonna had only played twice with one another prior to the playoffs and earned a spot in the draw based on a wildcard entry.
Simply put, you can’t judge a team fully based on how they look in late March/early April. You have to wait until May and June to get the real picture.
Transfer portal
Transferring in tennis isn’t as common as in basketball or football, but it happens. Two notable ones this spring in New Jersey are Nolan Sharma moving from Ridgewood to Newark Academy and Monroe’s Nathan Vudin going to Christian Brothers.
Sharma played first and second singles last year for Group 4-winning Ridgewood as a freshman. He also advanced to the inaugural Bergen County Singles Tournament final. Vudin, one of the Greater Middlesex Conference’s top players, gives Christian Brothers a strong one-two punch alongside Vincenzo Caruso.
Note: Please let us know of any more transfers.
Freshman watch
Every year, freshman come in and make major impacts on various teams up and down the Garden State. This season, Delbarton has two standouts at singles in twins Aaron and Aiden Paul. East Brunswick added Kaito Woodridge, Ishaan Makim and Vyan Mahesh. St. Joseph (Met.) brought in Brandon Jeon.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North also welcomed in Satvik Pany, Nevyn Colabavala and Mukund Venkatesan. Newark Academy could see Roger Hu or Sebastian Topor get playing time.
Livingston is back in contention as well with the addition of Ayaan Jayanty. Chatham has Elias Bruu-Syversen playing second singles. Moorestown predicts Jayden Tu will play first singles.
Tennis is a sport where freshman don’t need to get bigger, faster and stronger before they play well on the varsity level. These freshmen and others across the state could be difference-makers this spring.
Who will represent South Jersey?
South Jersey has fewer highly-ranked players compared to North and Central Jersey, but several standouts could change that perception.
Moorestown Friends’ Rafael Rauf steadily improved his rating from the end of last season when he made a deep run at the state singles tournament. Rauf dealt with injuries last year, but is healthy heading into 2026.
Ashus Mahmood, also from the BCSL at Northern Burlington, made the singles final at both the BCSL Tournament and the Burlington County Open last year. Cedar Creek’s Miguel Manalang captured the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament at singles in 2025
Cherokee’s Kunal Prabhakar, West Deptford’s Carter Watson, Cherry Hill East’s Landon Schuster, Delsea’s Zeph Kell, Clearview’s Andrew Crawford, Lenape’s Kunal Gupta and Tevin Pham and Moorestown’s Jayden Tu are some of the other top names to watch.
Singles success?
The inaugural tournament featured excellent matches but faced logistical challenges with weather, courts, and travel.
The schedule this year appears to run across three days instead of two, and during the week instead of the weekend, which many players were hoping for. Still, the area is home to many top players and it should provide fireworks.
Will anybody challenge Newark Academy?
We posed this question in the headline of our preseason Top 20, and it is a real thought that Newark Academy might not lose an individual match—like first singles, second singles, etc.—let alone a whole team dual match this season.
Newark Academy returns six of seven starters from last year’s team that won its 14th straight state title and 31st championship all-time. The Minutemen also brought in transfer help and have players that were reserves last year pushing for playing time. Newark Academy added a new and experienced head coach who is an upgrade as well.
The Minutemen have the deepest and most talented roster in the state, and it’ll be interesting if another team can match up with them. On the surface, Pingry and Delbarton might be the only ones, and all three are in the same North, Non-Public playoff section. Christian Brothers is another team with strong singles players that could pick off a flight or two. Can any public super team close the gap? West Windsor-Plainsboro South went undefeated last year too, but it did not play NA. Without a Tournament of Champions, it can be difficult to get the right matchups to determine who the absolute best team is in the state.
Back to Princeton
The first two days of the state singles and doubles tournaments from May 30-31 will be at the usual Mercer County Park and Veterans Park locations, but the last three rounds will be played at a new venue.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals for both tournaments will be played at Princeton University at its new outdoor (or indoor) facility. The fall saw the girls have the quarterfinals and semifinals there to great success, although it extended the day a bit being inside due to rain. Many factors prevented the finals from remaining at Princeton including weather and a state of emergency, but if all goes well, the boys finals should be at Princeton as well.
The move provides a twist that the players and everybody involved should find positive. Mercer County Park remains the epicenter of the high school tennis state championships, and the singles and doubles tournaments finals could go back there in the future.