Well before placing third in the New York State Tennis Championship, Ethan Solop loved tennis. The Roslyn High School senior started playing after his uncle introduced him to the sport.
“My uncle introduced me to tennis because he played Division I at Boston College, said Solop.
“He took me out to play for the first time when I was five and right away, I loved it. I loved the fact that I’m in control of everything and it’s just me against my opponent,” he said. “There’s no teammate to lean on, there’s no having a bad day. Like in basketball, you’re having a bad day, go to the bench and your teammates can win the game for you anyway by 40 points.”
Solop’s journey playing for Roslyn High School has been steady. It’s been a journey that has continued to see him improve upon each year, both on an individual and team level.
“Honestly, it’s been adjusting mid-match,” Solop said. “I used to come in with a game plan and just stick to it, but as I’ve gotten older, better, and worked harder, I started to be able to adjust mid-match a lot faster.
Since joining the Roslyn boys tennis team, Solop said he has set goals for himself and the team that has translated to success.
“As a team, every year I’ve played we made it to the county championship at least, and that’s a very big deal and obviously that was the minimum of my standards,” Solop said. “You start to set goals high and reach them and it happens. I would never have expected to come in third place in the state when I started playing varsity tennis in the eighth grade.”
Solop recently received the letter he wrote in eighth grade to his now senior and soon-to-be-graduate self. In the letter, Solop wrote about what he envisioned for himself after high school.
“I got it back and it was like ‘I hope when I’m reading this I’m committed to a good academic and athletic Division I school,’ Solop said. “I set that goal a long time ago and I reached it.”
That good academic and athletic Division I school is none other than Villanova University. When committing to Villanova, Solop talked about what the college process was like and how he ended up choosing the next chapter of his competitive tennis career.
“I started talking and reaching out to coaches basically right when I became eligible to do so, which is June of your sophomore year,” he said. “As I was talking to Coach [Brad] Adams of Villanova, I could tell right away that he’s a great guy. It’s a great academic school, I ended up meeting my future teammates, great guys, loved everybody, loved how the program was run, and it’s not too far from home, like a 2-1/2 hour drive, which is what my mom wanted.”
Solop also touched on the challenges he will be faced with now entering collegiate play.
“Obviously, in college, time management is going to be the toughest thing and being able to stay sharp in every aspect,” Solop said.
Even with that, Solop is still as eager as ever to get back on the court and play for a college program.
“I’m very excited to finally play on a full college team and be with the same guys all year around,” he said. “Right now, I’m on the high school team two to three months out of the year, and I’m practicing before the season with my friends or random guys, because where I’m practicing changes. I’m very excited to work with the same guys all the time and really just win at the highest level. There’s no higher level than professional and I’m looking forward to that.”
Solop’s biggest achievement in his high school career came at the New York State Tennis Championship. Entering the tournament, Solop knew he had to put everything on the line.
“Going into it, I was super pumped and excited, but I also knew that I was going to work really hard for it, knowing it was my last high school match, last tournament ever,” Solop said. “Leading up to it, I practiced every day, I ran twice out of the five days before it, worked out, did anything I could to get in shape and my whole goal was obviously winning the whole thing, which obviously didn’t happen but I knew I wasn’t taking a single point for granted. I knew I was going to work my butt off if anything.”
That hard work definitely paid off for Solop, as he captured third place and exercised his past demons to reach this groundbreaking point. There was no feeling better for Solop than after that winning moment.
“Afterwards, I mean, best feeling ever,” Solop said. “Coming in third place, beating the kid I kept losing to all year because that’s never happened to me before, I’ve never lost to one guy every single time we played in a season, so I was really happy to close it out with a win.”
Solop’s head coach, Kerriann Jannotte, shared similar sentiments.
“I was very happy for him,” Jannotte said. “It’s been very rewarding to watch him grow from an eighth grader playing doubles at counties to coming in No. 3 in New York state. I’m thrilled to death for him.”
On Solop’s high school career, Jannotte also spoke about what has set him apart from other players she has coached in the past.
“He’s such a well-rounded player,” Jannotte said. “He’s smart and he’s thoughtful about the game. He is emotional for sure. He cares. The passion is there and the skill is there to back it up. When you have the passion and the skill, he’s not afraid to try something new. When I mention something or his private coach does, he’s never the guy that says ‘no that won’t work.'”
Jannotte dived further into what has made Solop so special.
“When you’re on a high school team, you have this entire group of, in this case guys, surrounding you when you’re the one,” she added. “He plays the role well, but he never makes you feel as though you’re less than. He’ll call a teammate the night before a big match where the kid maybe hasn’t done well against his opponent, and he’ll call the kid and say ‘I feel it, I feel like you have it tomorrow,’ that means all the difference and he’s been a captain since he’s been a tenth grader.”
As Solop officially closes the chapter on his high school career, he looks back on his legacy at Roslyn and hopes to set a positive impact on the program and school as a whole even when he departs later this month.
“I hope people could look at my accomplishments or accolades as something to strive for and I want people to understand that it’s realistic,” Solop said. “If you work toward something really hard, you’ll get there. You just have to put in the work. You can’t just have days given to you.”
