The 2026 New Jersey boys tennis season is upon us and some teams have already started serving competitively this spring.
The rest will get under way next week. While the state tournament is months away, we take a look at the top teams in each of the groups.
Below we break down the favorites, contenders and other teams to watch in Group 4.
FAVORITE
East Brunswick
A perennial contender, East Brunswick, which last won a sectional crown in 2022, went 12-6 last spring. The Bears took second at the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and reached the tough Central, Group 4 semifinals.
East Brunswick will have a revamped lineup this season that sends two of last year’s singles starters Ashwin Deodhar and Saksham Bhardwaj down to second doubles.
After not playing a year ago, Neil Lund is back on the team and looks to be headed to first singles. Behind him are freshmen Kaito Woodridge and Ishaan Makim at the other two singles positions. Timur Savin, a veteran, and another newcomer Vyan Mahesh rounds out the first doubles pair.
CONTENDERS
Lenape
Lenape won the South, Group 4 title last spring and finished 15-2 overall. The Indians will have to replace Logan Knasiak at first singles, but Kunal Gupta and Tevin Pham return from their second and third singles positions, respectively.
Doubles players Saatvik Dinesh, Nikhil Venkatachalapathy and Ankush Nair are all back as well alongside reserves Owen McDonald and Neil Sethi who saw spot action last year.
The SJG4 section is typically hard to decipher. But with so much experience back, Lenape figures to be in the running.
Livingston
Livingston will have a new look this spring. After a down year by Livingston standards at 11-11, the Lancers will be much improved this year.
Dennis Wang, one of the Garden State’s top players as a freshman two years ago, returns to the team after not playing for the Lancers last season.
Livingston also returns singles players Arjun Bansal and Julian Turovets, and doubles players Jake Mandala, Aarush Gupta, Justin Li and Mayak Tiku.
The outlook is bright for Livingston because not only does it have Wang and other returning experience back, the freshman class of Aayan Jayanty, William Yu and Arkit Shah are strong and will vie for playing time.
Marlboro
The Mustangs are set to contend once again in the Shore Conference and in the tough Central, Group 4 state tournament. Marlboro will certainly miss Sourish Gadhi at first singles along with doubles players Tyler Leung and Lenny Reznik, but the team returns a host of starters and adds on a solid group of newcomers.
Marlboro, which reached the Group 4 final and went 10-2 last season, brings back singles players Kanata Sasaki and Kenneth Sun and doubles Evan Albert and Allen Xie. Ray Sasaki, Evan Hsu and Vismai Neeli are expected to battle for starting spots as well. As of now, every position is up for grabs, and that competitiveness, which won’t die down during the season, should keep everybody sharp.
Montgomery
Montgomery was close to turning a 9-6 season into something much bigger. The Cougars had 3-2 losses to Pingry, Ridge, Hillsborough and West Windsor-Plainsboro South and a competitive 4-1 loss to East Brunswick in the quarterfinals of the Central, Group 4 without its full lineup due to illness.
Juan Miguel Pereyra is predicted to man the first singles spot again with Ethan Qian and Wilson Dee behind him, while Srikar Bavigadda and Advaith Molakaseema are expected to hold down doubles spots.
Dee lost his only two matches last year at third singles, but they were each to Hillsborough and East Brunswick in two extremely close encounters. With a full season ahead of him, he is expected to take the next step.
Ridgewood
The Maroons arguably had the top season of any team in New Jersey last year. Ridgewood captured the North 1, Group 4 title on its way to its first overall Group 4 state championship since 1968. Ridgewood, which finished 16-0 as a team, then saw the pair of Ethan Rosenberg and Ben Caradonna claim the state doubles title.
Graduation and transfers have hit Ridgewood hard this spring, but the Maroons have a chance to still be competitive.
Rosenberg, third singles Andrew Chorba and second doubles Ethan Hong are set to return for Ridgewood. Rosenberg also has extensive singles experience, so he won’t be nervous about stepping in as a starter.
Aidan Wilson, Calvin Taubin, Jackson Speed, Arman Nair, Maxwell Hu, Kristofer Elvegren and Liam Alexander all got their feet wet last year as well as preparation for this year.
South Brunswick
The entire starting lineup is projected to return for South Brunswick which went 10-3 a year ago including 9-1 in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division.
South Brunswick reached the Central, Group 4 semifinals last season behind Manav Kumar, Oliver Chen, Vidhyut Kumar, Anay Gupta, Pranav Etta, Anirudh Swaminathan and Ajay Avasi.
Venkat Mokkapati, Vishaan Balawat, Ritwik Desai, Rehaan Salaria, Venkat Jankiram, Akshay Appiakannan and Ryan Sharma are other names to watch for the Vikings as they are looking to crack the lineup.
South Brunswick should be one of the better Group 4 teams this season, and it will aim to compete with new head coach Liz Hayston.
Westfield
Westfield posted a 16-6 record last season including 6-0 within the Watchung Division of the Union County Tournament. The Blue Devils captured their second-straight North 2, Group 4 sectional title as well and bring back first singles Chris Winters and doubles players Justin Lee, Evan Kahn, Leo Goldman and Arden Rappoport.
Winters, one of the state’s top risers the last two years, will be flanked by Lee and whoever else wins the third singles job. The doubles pairs are up in the air right now. Much of lineup is still unsettled, but the Blue Devils are expected to be a solid group and contend to a title.
Other teams to watch