Drew Perez did it again. The Salem High tennis player, who just completed his junior season, finished his singles season undefeated, capped by a second straight Class 4 state singles championship.
After dominating his opponents during the regular season Drew won three Region 4D matches and two Virginia High School League state Class 4 matches without losing a set. Last Friday at Huntington Park in Newport News, VA Drew drew Charles Aractingi of Jamestown in the semifinals and won 6-2, 6-3. In the other semifinal Jamison Wallace of Powhatan beat Neel Pasunuri of Broad Run convincingly, 6-2, 6-1. That was noteworthy as Pasunuri was the player Perez defeated in the 2024 state singles championship match.
On Saturday morning, also at Huntington Park, Drew beat Wallace in a close first set, 6-4, then put it away with a 6-2 win in the second set. He felt a little more confident the second time around.
“Last year’s championship felt much more intense as it was my first time making it to the state championship and I knew how big of an opportunity it was for me,” said Perez. “This year, I felt a lot more confident and calm because I had been through this before. However, I still knew how big the stakes were, as winning a state championship back-to-back is very difficult.”
Drew felt confident after winning the first set.
“The second set was much easier for me than the first set,” he said. “I think that was due to multiple reasons. First, after a couple of close deuce games that went my way in the first, it looked like my opponent was very frustrated and upset that I had taken the first set. Also, it was very hot and humid that day, so mentally and physically I was doing fine while my opponent was struggling thinking about how he let the set go and he would have to fight back to get it to a third set tiebreaker to win. Lastly, I settled in at the start of the second set and I found my rhythm and started controlling points much better.”
Drew is now 52-3 for his high school singles career. He considers Sean Frank of Charlottesville to be his toughest competition this year. He beat Frank in the region final in each of the past two seasons, including 7-5, 6-3 in this year’s Region 4D championship match.
“The toughest match I played was the region final,” said Perez. “I played him last year in the region final and that was a tight match so I knew he would be gunning for me. He also improved significantly, which caught me a little off guard. On top of that, I wasn’t playing my best so I had to find a way to fight it out and get the win.”
Drew spent much of the past year taking his Salem High classes on line while living on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina and working on his game at the prestigious Smith Stearns Academy. He was able to get to Salem to play in enough matches to qualify for post-season play, and plans to do that again for his senior year.
“I’ll be home for this summer hanging out with friends and family and playing USTA tournaments, but I’ll go back to Smith Stearns August 11th for the whole school year,” he said. “I’m planning on playing for Salem for my final senior year as of now.”
