Syosset boys tennis defined excellence in repeating as state large school champions
Syosset teammates celebrate after clinching victory over Bethlehem in the state Division 1 boys tennis team championship at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing on June 13, 2025. Credit: James Escher
It is no small feat to win a state championship. Nor is it a small feat to emerge as a team that is recognized across the state as a title contender every year. However, it is a huge feat for a program to become synonymous with “excellence.”
And that is precisely what the Syosset boys tennis team did this season.
It was hard to spot a weakness in its lineup. The trio of singles players was always formidable. The quartet of doubles teams was always hard to negotiate. The squad had enough depth to drown any opponent. And so it really came as no surprise that Syosset emerged from the 2025 season as the large school state champion for a third consecutive season.
It persevered through a hotly-contested regional final against Section I champion Horace Greeley to emerge with a 4-3 victory and arrived on June 13 for the state semifinals and championship match at the USTA National Tennis Center as a prohibitive top seed.
And like a hot knife through butter, Syosset (21-1) shrugged off Section IX champion Washingtonville in the semis and Section II Bethlehem in the final, capturing the crown without losing a set.
“When we started tryouts this season, I thought the level of play we had a across the board was insane,” said junior Aayan Mehta, who provided the team with the title-clinching win for a second straight year when he prevailed in straight sets at third singles. “I thought we looked like a championship team right then.”
“Tennis is a big part of the culture in Syosset,” junior Nikhil Shah said. “It’s reflected in this team, when you look at the depth and level of play.”
The state championship match has come to be an annual meeting of the Section I champion and the Long Island champion – typically the two best teams that make the state tournament – but in the rotation of the odd number of sections, it occurred in the June 4 regional final. Shah said that as good as he felt about the team coming out of the 7-0 Long Island championship win over Half Hollow Hills East, the match against Horace Greeley “was going to be our biggest hurdle.”
Mehta and sophomore Jacob Prince broke the 3-3 tie by winning at first doubles, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), to clinch it.
“We’d settled into the season and we were winning against everybody, dominating in Nassau,” senior Veyd Trivedi said. “Horace Greeley was the match we worried about by [coach Shai] Fisher said we’d have the strength at doubles to win and he was right.”
Fisher subscribes to the notion that even with some returning players, every team is unique and he said, “the players are tight-knit, super competitive and don’t want to lose – all good things – but there are always challenges is how things fit together.”
“You have to hand it to Fisher because he is always thinking about how a team is going to fit together,” Shah said. “We win a championship today and tomorrow he’ll be thinking about doubles combinations for next season.”
Fisher returned the compliment to the players.
“We’re fortunate to have players that are always . . . . striving to improve,” he said. “There is no complacency.”
ROAD TO THE STATE TITLE
Nassau quarterfinals: def. Great Neck North, 7-0.
Nassau semifinals: def. Port Washington, 5-2.
Nassau championship: def Roslyn, 4-3.
Long Island championship: def. Half Hollow Hills East, 7-0.
State regional: def. Horace Greeley, 4-3.
State semifinal: def. Washingtonville (Section IX), 7-0.
State championship: def. Bethlehem (Section II), 4-0.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
