Eli Scott first started playing tennis at the age of 6, when he was introduced to the sport by his father.

Now, Scott is playing men’s singles for West Seattle High School’s varsity tennis team. He has been in the top spot since last year, beating everyone at the school.

Scott practices tennis almost every day to improve his skills. This year, his personal record is 5-4.

“Last year more seniors were into competitive playing, now the team is younger and more relaxed,” said Scott about the players this year compared to last year’s players.

“I liked the coaching this year more because of a set latter and more individual decisions during practice, on what to do,” said Scott.

After high school, Scott doesn’t plan to play tennis in college, but said he will still continue to play for fun.

During Scott’s free time, he does pretty much everything a typical high school student would do, such as hang out with friends at the mall or go to the movies. When it’s not tennis season, he enjoys playing golf and tennis with his friends.

Two of Scott’s favorite subjects are science and writing. His favorite teacher is science teacher Kevin Barth. Scott said he always has a good time in his class because Barth is a funny teacher.

This past March, Scott took a class trip to Maui, Hawaii, with Barth’s Marine Science class.

“I had a great time at Maui,” said Scott.

The place he stayed in was a YMCA camp. What Scott mostly did in Maui was spend a lot of time in the water, snorkeling, swimming, and a bit of diving into the water.

On Saturday, May 9, Scott played in the tennis Metro tournament. Scott easily won in the first round but lost in the second round. Last year, he made it to the third round. Competition this year has increased compared to last year.

Since Scott is still a junior, he can redeem himself next year. He will work harder, and practice more to prepare himself for his senior year.

“I will try my best to get as far as I can next year, hopefully at least past the third round in the Metros tournament.”

Shin Tran is a West Seattle High School journalism student and this article appears originally in the school newspaper, The Chinook.