Another year older means another year wiser.

  As a sophomore last season, Atlee’s Shao-Wei Tu played for a Capital District title after blazing his way through the preliminary rounds of the tournament. However, in the championship match, Tu’s flaring temperament and frustration got the best of him and he fell to district player of the year Jacob Bean of Hanover.

  But Tu learned lessons in the loss. “Just be mentally tough,” he said. “That helps a lot with your game. Last year I lost in the finals pretty bad, not because of my skills but because of my mindset going into the match.”

  This year, Tu returned to the title match to once again to face the district player of the year in the form of Henrico super-sophomore Arjun Venkatasubramanian. But a year’s worth of maturity made all the difference for Tu this season. Showing much more confidence in himself and with his play, Tu battled through a well-played match with Arjun to take the district singles title 7-6, 6-2.

  “I improved a lot this year, just be mentally tough and never give up and tried to work out,” Tu said.

  For Tu, the improvement in his game was just a natural part of being one year older. “As I get older I’m just starting to be more wise,” he said. “Not just tennis but on every part of life and tennis is just one part of life. I learned a lot from last year.”

  Atlee head coach Joey Rogers agreed. “He really has developed into a good player,” Rogers said. “His confidence is up. He’s getting smarter. He’s maturing as a kid and a player so it’s good both ways.”

  Both Arjun and Tu came into the title match each having lost to the other handily during the regular season. Therefore no one expected the championship to come easily.

  “Coming in here, I knew he was a really good player and every time I’ve played him, he’s always played tough,” Tu said. “So I’ve just got to play tough and play my game and don’t think about winning or losing. Just try to play a good match.”

  In the first set, Tu jumped out to a 1-0 lead but Arjun battled back to eventually put himself in position to win the set. Arjun held a 5-4 lead needing only one point to take the set when Tu rallied.

  “He had a set point and I was a little nervous,” Tu said. “I just trusted my game, trusted my forehand/backhand and knew it would be fine. On the add-out when he had a set point I just went for it and got it.”

  With Tu rebounding, it was Arjun who began to show signs of having his confidence shaken. Tu roared back to take the set 7-6.

  In the second set, Tu rode a wave of confidence to a 3-0 lead but Arjun did not throw in the towel and it was the Henrico player’s turn to rally for a comeback.

  “At that point I’m just telling myself to keep playing the way I played in the first set,” Tu said. “That’s how I won my first set and just keep doing my same kind of play. Just be aggressive.

  “I just kept being aggressive, one game at a time, one play at a time,” Tu said.

  With a solid performance under pressure Tu held on to win the second set and title 6-2.

  Tu reached the title match by beating Henrico’s Matthew Zimmerman in the quarterfinals 7-6, (retired), then took out Lee-Davis’ Kyle Russell 6-3, 6-0.
  Venkatasubramanian reached the championship match via a quarterfinal win over Atlee’s Jody Cox 6-2, 6-1, then defeating three-time district defending champion, Bean, 6-3, 6-3.

  In doubles action on Friday evening it was Venkatasubramanian and Zimmerman taking the district title after defeating Atlee’s Tu and Eric Smith in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 court war.

  For Tu, winning the singles title brought some relief after falling in the doubles. “It was a really tough match,” he said. “It was a really close. I wanted at least one first place and I’m glad I got it.”

  The Henrico duo reached the championship by beating Lee- Davis’ Nick Peterson and Ryan Henry 6-1, 6-2 in the quarters and Atlee’s Cox and Nicolas Rishcoff 6-4, (retired) in the semis.

  The Tu-Smith tandem advanced after taking out Hanover’s Taylor Napier and Matt King 6-0, 6-0 in the quarters then Lee-Davis’ Russell and Wes Dean 6-1, 6-2 in the semis.

  Atlee’s Joey Rogers was given coach of the year honors.

CAPITAL DISTRICT BOYS (at Lee-Davis)
SINGLES
First round: Zimmerman (Henrico) d. Billups (Hanover) 6-1, 6-2; Sheets (Varina) d. Gardner (Armstrong) 6-2, 6-0; Russell (Lee-Davis) d. Amagoh
(Highland Springs) 6-0, 6-0; Cox (Atlee) d. Bryant (Armstrong) 6-0, 6-1; Peterson (Lee-Davis) d. Stubblefield (Highland Springs) 6-2, 6-2;
Bean (Hanover) d. Czerwick (Varina) 6-0, 6-0; Tu (Atlee) bye; Venkatasubramanian (Henrico) bye.
Quarterfinals: Tu d. Zimmerman 7-6, retired; Russell d. Sheets 6-3, 6-2; Venkatasubramanian d. Cox 6-2, 6-1; Bean d. Peterson 6-1, 6-0.
Semifinals: Tu d. Russell 6-3, 6-0; Venkatasubramanian d. Bean 6-3, 6 3.

Doubles
Quarterfinals: Shaowei Tu-Eric Smith (Atl) d. Taylor Napier-Matt King 6-0, 6-0; Jody Cox-Nicholas Rishcoff (Atl) d. Jacob Bean-Peter Billups (Han) 2-6, 7-5, 6-2; Arjun Venkatasubramanian-Matthew Zimmerman (Hen) d. Peterson-Henry (LD) 6-1, 6-2; Kyle Russell-Wes Dean (LD) d. Antonio Bryant-Keymani Gardner (Arm) 6-1, 6-1
Semifinals: Tu-Smith (Atl) d. Russell-Dean (LD) 6-1, 6-0; Venkatasubramanian-Zimmerman (Hen) d. Cox-Rishcoff (Atl) 6-4, ret.
Finals: Venkatasubramanian-Zimmerman (Hen) d. Tu-Smith (Atl) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.