Rudra Patel returns to lead the Nashua North boys tennis team as the season is set to open this week, weather permitting. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

Tennis anyone? Like it or not, it’s supposed to be tennis everyone for the high school season starting this week.

Unless Mother Nature double faults.

It’s possible the Souhegan Sabers will get their scheduled match in today at Lebanon to kick off the local boys tennis season, and then Milford and Hollis Brookline tangle indoors at Longfellow Tennis Club in Nashua on Tuesday while it rains outside. Wednesday may even bring snow.

But while the weather may not give you a tennis feel, the locals have been preparing the last couple of weeks for what could be an interesting season, although expect Bedford and Hanover to grab a chunk of the statewide limelight again.

Locally in Division I Nashua North and South have their top players back, but the area’s best team a year ago, Bishop Guertin lost just about everyone. Souhegan has key players back in Division II, and Milford returns to the boys tennis stage for the first time in six seasons.

Here’s a look:

DIVISION I

The Panthers had a tough tourney draw last year, getting a first round win but a trip to Hanover right after. New coaches Brice Miller and Sam Holdsworth have a solid one-two punch atop the ladder in seniors Abhinav Avvaru and Atul Phadke, with sophomore Shrey Shah and junior Mihir Garimella in the top four mix. Others who will compete for spots include junior Raghav Buddniheni, plus sophomores Aado Kulkarni, Nikhil Shokeen and Jerry Primo, plus newbies Divyesh Gaddam (freshman) and Vihaan Shah (junior).

Watch out.

“We have a pretty deep roster and the guys have their sights set on a top 4 seed come tournament time,” Miller said. “Our goal is to build a program that can compete with the likes of Bedford and Hanover year in, year out.”

Rudra Patel is back for his third year atop the Nashua North ladder, while junior Matt Desjardins moves up a spot from No. 3 last year and junior Navein Sribalaharan does the same to No. 3. Another junior Doingo Reynoso, was No. 6 a year ago and takes over at No. 4. Sophomore Conor McInerney takes over at 5 and could go higher in the lineup as the season goes on. The sixth spot on the Titan ladder is still wide open.

Titans coach Rob Trowbridge feels the season opener at home set for Wedneday – weather permitting, of course – will set a tone. “It will be telling as to where our season is headed,” he said.

Over at Bishop Guertin, there’s a bit of the unknown for longtime coach Tom Lizotte.

“This will be a very interesting year as I have no returning starters,” he said. “In fact, my lineup will be all new faces, but it looks very good. All players have good skills and are quite evenly matched.”

His top two are freshmen Jack Kostansek and Evean Deyak, while Jonny Perrot, Jaiime Gomez-Fungairino Herrera and Charlie Dabrowski – freshman, sophomore and junior will help fill out the lineup. Again, entirely new.

Alvirne, which made the finals in 2021, has had a couple of down years and Colin Stone has taken over the program. Sophomore Sam Hergenhahn looks to take the No. 1 ladder spot, and seniors Caleb Lambert and Zack Proulx are going to be keys. “They’re looking to make their last season the best yet,” Stone said, noting their compete factor is high as their challenge matches keep going into tiebreakers.

Merrimack, which lost to BG in the quarters last year, has a new coach, Ryan Farnsworth taking over while Don Chisholm moved over to take the girls program. Farnsworth has four back from last year — Wayne Alexander, Lucas Goldberg, Gabe Grantham and Brady Matte – while he also has eight new players. Among them are Mikhail Sgapov, Jeremy Nigen, Nithin Sathappan and Lucas Allgayer.

“We’re looking forward to having a good season this year,” Farnsworth said.

Among the returnees for the Alvirne boys tennis team are, from left, Dylan Burke, Christian Figueiredor, Owen Surprenant, Sam Hergenhahn, Caleb Lambert, Joey Allison, and Sean Mendes. Missing was Zach Proulx. (Courtesy photo)

DIVISION II

The Sabers, with five returnees, have senior Connor Firmin, who was last year’s highest point earner and junior Balthazar Glover came in as the most improved from the off season. Sophomore Brian Keegan is a key while so is freshman Brian Goddard.

“All three new players arrived ready to go, and will compete for top six,” longtime Saber coach John Kilgore said. “All the returning players appear to be playn at a surprisingly equal level of play. Hopefully, all good.”

Hollis Brookline has eight players back, and assistant coach Celestino Eddi Sepulveda III has taken over the head reins.

“We have a promising young team of 13 players, with eight returning players who are notably stronger and more confidnt on the court thanks to their off season efforts,” Sepulveda said.

Four of those are big keys – senior Simar Siddhu plus sophomores Samuel Anthony, Arjun Inakollu and John Torpey.

As for Milford, being away from the game for six years certainly means starting from scratch. The only real experienced tennis player is coach Kate Emerson’s son, Will, who plays basketball but does compete over the summer, has been playing the game since 2015.

The roster has eight freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors. The freshmen are Tyler Constable, Brendan Courtney, James Crawford, Ryan Delli Colli, Emerson, Marcus Kern, Ryan Lewis and Brady O’Connor. Sophomores are Huseyin Alperen and Tiegan Barb, while there’s also juniors Javier Goodwin and Jake Neubeck.

“They show up to practice eager to listen, learn, and work hard to get better,” she said, noting that a big goal is practice good sportsmanship on the courts because it could be a struggle of a season due to lack of experience.

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