After winning the first set by a tiebreaker of two points, Jonathan Gu ’23 holds

the advantage and continues to fight for the state title. Although he loses the second

set, Gu shows remarkable resilience and determination, ultimately coming back on

top afer more than three grueling hours to win the third and final set. Ending his

junior year season on a triumphant note, Gu not only remained unbeaten, but also

emerged as the state singles champion, the first time a Princeton High School tennis

player has done so in four decades.

Inspired by his brother, Gu first picked up the racket at the age of five and has

been dedicated to the sport ever since. Over the years, Gu has been honing his skills,

especially his forehand, which has become one of his greatest strengths.

“He has a huge forehand and a huge serve,” said Melvin Huang ’24, a singles player

on the PHS varsity tennis team. “He also hits a bunch of dropshots.”

Paired with Gu’s aggresive playstyle is his determination to win every point, no

matter the circumstance.

“He’s just very focused. When he’s on court, his

level of play is just impressive,” said PHS Tennis

Coach Sarah Hibbert. “Even people who don’t

know tennis will walk up and be like, ‘whoa’ —

they can sense the level of play.”

Like many players, he looks up to the Big #ree

of tennis: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak

Djokovic.

“I try to look at what they do well, and how I can

do my best representation of what they do,” said Gu.

“They are the best tennis players of all time of course,

[so] no one is better to learn from.”

His style of playing is modeled after different

aspects of these professional players, such as Nadal’s

physical strength, Federer’s control, and Djokovic’s

persistence, all of which he incorporates into his game.

“I like to hit winners or keep control of the point on

my racket and don’t let my opponents [get control],” Gu said.

His strategy evidently works, as he had a 14-0 win-loss record in

2022. Despite already having an amazing season full of achievements

as first singles on the varsity team, Gu is always striving for perfection.

“I get frustrated when I play, when [I could] do something

better… I’m trying to improve on my serve. It’s the most important

shot in tennis,” Gu said.

Gu’s journey has only gotten tougher as he progresses in the sport,

as his drive to improve has taken up a large portion of his time. Some

nights, he finds himself getting home at 1:00 a.m. following a tennis

tournament. But despite the major time commitment, Gu has never

considered quitting; tennis has been how he’s grown.

“Some challenges [I’ve experienced] are fighting through a

tight match, and also just getting over tough losses,” Gu said. “Just

training hard, practicing, [and] playing lots of tournaments have

taught me how to be resilient.”

Gu, being one of the top players on the team, inspires his

teammates, especially with his exceptional skill. He is essentially

their backbone, as his flawless record in 2022 contributed

significantly to the team’s success.

“He’s carrying the team and sweeping first singles everyday. It’s

really nice knowing we have at least one point,” Huang said.

Gu not only impresses others with his skills, but he also

rallies others on the team to do the best they can. Tennis is often

regarded as an individual sport, but encouragement off-court is what

keeps the team spirit alive.

“I think he tries to encourage team spirit. We usually do captains once we start the

team, but as a senior, he will likely be one of our captains if he wants that distinction,”

Hibbert said.

That will be up for Gu to decide as he looks forward to another successful season. As

he navigates the transition towards Division III tennis at Carnegie Mellon University,

Gu’s passion for the sport extends beyond his high school career as he anticipates

this new challenge.

“I’m excited to play college tennis; it’s always been a dream,” Gu said. “Carnegie

Mellon is a great place to get a great education and also [to] join a really good tennis

team with some amazing people.