The Parkland boys tennis team had some big holes to fill this season, but its done well in filling them and moved to 11-0 on the season Tuesday when it downed Emmaus 7-0. One of the reasons why Parkland has been riding high is the play of Aneesh Kapoor, the Trojans’ number-one singles player.

Kapoor opened the season by rattling off four straight wins in his new role as the top singles player for the Trojans. He ran into stiff competition against Easton and Salisbury and dropped two straight matches. The setback didn’t derail him though, because he bounced back against Stroudsburg, and now has a new four-match win streak under his belt.

It became obvious to Kapoor a couple years ago that he was going to have to wait until his senior season to take over as the team’s top singles player. With Nick Kshatri and Nate Lyman entrenched at one and two singles, Kapoor was somewhat stuck at number-three. Now, as a senior, he’s getting to play against the best in the Eastern Pennsylvania and is enjoying the challenge.

“I like that I know that I always have competition,” said Kapoor. “Sometimes, the guys lower down the ladder, especially at the smaller schools, aren’t that good, but every team has at least one good player. So I know that I’ll get to play a competitive match every time.

“Last year at three-singles, I know I got a little sloppy towards the end of the season because the competition wasn’t as good and I started to play a little worse.”

Kshatri and Lyman were the types of players who seemed to have everything come naturally to them. That’s not to say that they didn’t work at the game, because their work ethic is what made them so strong, but the game just looked easy for them. Kapoor is a different type of player who battles every time out, but comes out on top more times than not.

“Even in matches that he’s won, he’s had to work hard,” said Parkland coach Michael Hingston. “He’s got an interesting game, because he does a lot of things well, so he’s good at manufacturing points. He’s got a good all-court game. He moves well, and he’s athletic.

“Sometimes, it’s lonely at the top and he’s adjusting to having to play everybody’s best player, but he’s adjusting well and having fun. I think that’s his focus, is to have fun first, and there’s no pressure on him, when you really think about it in terms of certain matches. If the expectation is that the other guy is going to get you, then let’s prove it and see. He’s a good competitor.”

Kshatri was very much a student of the game, and Kapoor has seen enough tennis to know that life without the two guys ahead of him was going to be tougher for Parkland, but he’s proud of the way that other players have stepped in and have made the team better.

“I knew it would be challenging, because we knew we always had two guaranteed wins (with Kshatri and Lyman),” said Kapoor, who plans on majoring in economics in college, and might possibly be attending USC in the fall. “But that’s not the case now. We have to work a lot harder.

“They were great captains and we miss them a lot this year. I’m really proud of the way that we’ve played so far. I think we have the potential to do really well in districts and in the EPC tournament.”

Parkland has three matches remaining on its schedule and they could all be tough. They face Nazareth (8-1, 9-1), Northampton (6-4, 7-4) and Whitehall (6-1, 6-1) to wrap up the regular season, with the finale coming in less than a week. All three of the matches are at home. The team is upbeat about its chances, but the Trojans realize that nothing is going to be easy.

“We’ll see what we’re made of against Nazareth and we’ll have our hands full, for sure,” Hingston said. “I think we’re getting better and I still think that we can be a dangerous team in districts, so we’re looking forward to that challenge.”