Towering over his opponents, freshman Luca Chudoba stands at the tennis net prepared for a volley. As the competitor hits the ball down the line Chudoba steps and hits an overhead winning the point. 

Chudoba began playing tennis in seventh grade at T.A. Howard Middle School.

“My favorite part of playing is just hanging out and being able to smash overhand,” Chudoba said.

Ranked fifth on boys varsity and second in doubles, Chudoba prefers to play singles.

“I love singles because I get to work the court by myself and don’t have to to worry about other peoples mistakes,” Chudoba said.

Luca decided to play tennis when his older sister was placed on varisty her freshman year.

“My sister played extremely well her freshmen year and ranked pretty high in state,” Chudoba said. “It encouraged me to begin playing.”

Senior Elena Chudoba, Luca’s older sister, continues to play varsity for the girls team.

“It’s pretty fun having my sister here,” Luca said. She’s there for me when I need racket help and I’m there for her when she needs a new racket when she breaks her strings because she’s so powerful.”

Since playing at Legacy, Luca believes that both his forehand and serve have improved.

“I prefer playing high school tennis to middle school tennis. At Howard we didn’t really learn a lot but here it’s a good learning environment,” Chudoba said.