Scott Gerber photographed the action photos and most, but not all, of the state qualifier group photos.

OhioTennisZone.com Interview

WEDNESDAY,

OTZ Interview: Columbus Academy's Jacob Wareti

OhioTennisZone.com has long offered match results, photos, and analysis. It is time for something new. OTZ will be interviewing the top Ohio senior boys before the season begins, and the first interview is with Jacob Wareti of Columbus Academy.

Schottenstein/Wareti
State Dubs Champs in 2013: Schottenstein / Wareti - Click to enlarge

Wareti teamed up with Abram Schottenstein as a freshman to get a state championship in D2 dubs, and his goals for this year will not surprise tennis fans. When asked, Wareti stated his goals for this year are, "Win an individual and a team state championship but take it one match at a time." That's no surprise given that Columbus Academy has been the runner-up in the State Team Championship three times during Wareti's tenure and he finished as a runner-up to Mason Dragos in last year's singles finals. It will not be an easy task with other strong contenders in D2 singles. They include: Wellington's Connor Biernat, Indian Hill's Alex Warstler and Andrew Pregel, Cincinnati Country Day's Kevin Yu, and Seven Hill's Nick Williams. Other strong D2 teams include: Cincinnati Country Day and Indian Hill.

GCTA Award
GCTA Award Winners for 2015 - Click to enlarge

When asked how long he has been playing tennis, Wareti replied, "The first time that I ever picked up a racquet was when I was probably around six or seven [years old] but I didn't take it seriously until I was nine or ten." Wareti's parents played some tennis, but his official start was when his brother, Matt, found the racquets and they decided to go out and play. Wareti also played basketball in a rec league but he stopped after eighth grade so that he could concentrate on tennis. Wareti's older brother, Matt, is a 2012 Bexley graduate and he reached States in doubles in 2009 and singles in 2012, where he finished fourth. Both Jacob and Matt have received the Greater Columbus Tennis Association (GCTA) Junior Boy Player of the Year Awards.

GCTA Award
Wareti at States in 2015 - Click to enlarge

Wareti prides himself in his all court game. He relies on his consistency and his serve. His serve has been clocked in the 115 to 120 mph range. When asked which tennis stroke he wanted in an OTZ picture this season, it was not a clear cut decision, but he settled with "backhand."

Wareti will play collegiately for Ohio State. He chose OSU over Xavier, Valparaiso, and Michigan State after visiting each school. He liked OSU for several reasons including: it has strong academics in his major; he likes the guys on the team, and it is close to home. There is a good possibility that he will red-shirt his freshman year just as many other Ohio players have.

He is math-science guy rather than liberal arts, and he hopes to go into health sciences at Ohio State. Wareti would like a vocation in the medical field when he graduates and that could mean that he takes a pre-med, rehabilitation, or physical therapy track at OSU. Wareti took eight AP courses while at Columbus Academy and he is currently taking his favorite course, AP Chemistry. Wareti will certainly be ready for college after attending Columbus Academy. During the 2013-14 school year, Columbus Academy ranked seventh in Ohio on the Gerber Analytics, LLC analysis of those schools taking the Ohio Graduation Test (above link goes to Gerber Analytics).

Wareti uses OhioTennisZone and TennisRecruiting.net to follow the sport. He was also familiar with Universal Tennis Rating (UTR). Wareti is currently a four-star in TennisRecruiting.net system and he has an 11.48 UTR. Universal Tennis Rating is a rather new service that rates all active players on the same scale regardless of their age and gender. Wareti's rating compares favorably with the other state contenders listed above. Tennis players are accustomed to playing in clinics with players of different ages and genders. Since UTR lists ratings for Francesca Di Lorenzo of 11.98 and Alle Sanford with 11.54, Wareti agreed that matches with either Di Lorenzo or Sanford would be close matches.

Wareti's record last year was 25-3, with two regular season losses (Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino and Sycamore's Deepak Indrakanti). In the post-season, he was defeated in the state final by Lexington's Mason Dragos. Wareti's USTA record (according to TennisRecruting.net) over the last 12 months is 35-25. Recent wins over Ohio players include: Dublin Coffman's Bryan Yoshino, Solon's Vlad Rotnov, and Massillon Jackson's Jake Zalenski. He has had recent losses against Kenton's Austin Barr and University School's Paul Gota. When he is not studying or playing tennis, he enjoys being with friends and family and watching sports and NetFlix. His Twitter handle is @jacobwereready. Click to view his TennisRecruiting.net and OhioTennisZone.com profiles.