Junior Nikitia Petruk was defeated by an Upper St. Clair opponent on Wednesday in the first round of WPIAL tennis singles, 10-2. 

Petruk had qualified for WPIALs by making it to the finals of section singles last week. He had been injured in the semifinals of the sections, though, so he had not been able to compete in the section finals.

The temperature dropped to the high 20s on Wednesday, which made playing difficult on top of his recent injury. 

“For me, the weather wasn’t comfortable playing in,” Petruk said. 

Despite that, the match started well for Petruk. 

“I won the first game,” Petruk said. 

His opponent was then able to catch up to Petruk 1-1. After that, Petruk said his backhand made it difficult for him to win games. 

He said he had trouble with his backhand previously when his confidence was low. Petruk said his Upper Saint Clair opponent was able to track his weaknesses and capitalize. 

“My opponent had a nice reach on the balls, and he was very fast,” Petruk said. 

Nonetheless, Petruk has plenty to look forward to. The tennis team has already qualified for team playoffs this year, and he is looking forward to returning to WPIAL singles in his senior year. 

“Oh yeah, I’m ready for kickoff,” Petruk said.

He also feels he could improve a lot with his game, including “more consistency in my first serves and backhand. I also want to get more power and more technique on the court,” Petruk said.