A member of the Smith family has played No. 1 singles for the Columbus North girls tennis team for six of the past seven years.
Allie Smith played in the top spot for the Bull Dogs in 2011 and 2012. Her sister Aubrey played there from 2014-17.
Now, with Aubrey having moved on, senior Yijiang Zhao has moved into the No. 1 singles spot to begin the 2018 season.
“It will be a challenge for her this year, moving to this spot,” veteran North coach Kendal Hammel said. “She’s not an Allie Smith or an Aubrey, but she has shots, and she can play. But she hasn’t competed at the USTA tournament level to see how she how she’s going to match up with some of these other girls.”
Zhao played mostly No. 2 doubles as a freshman and sophomore. She played No. 3 singles last season.
Thursday, Zhao made her No. 1 singles debut with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Seymour’s Grace Otte to lead the Bull Dogs to a 5-0 season-opening victory. Zhao will face Columbus East’s Megna Chari for the first time in a high school match when the teams meet today at East.
“I didn’t expect to be there (at No. 1 singles),” Zhao said. “I’m kind of nervous because at No. 1, you’re always facing the best person on the other team. I just hope to play my best. I’m always looking to improve and get better. I hope it doesn’t get worse from here.”
Zhao, who moved to Columbus with her family from China when she was 4 years old, has been playing tennis since age 7. She considers her shot selection, strokes and technique the strengths of her game.
Hammel thought Zhao served well in Thursday’s match.
“Yijiang has always had a lot of talent,” Hammel said. “She hits the ball hard, she can hit a lot of shots and she has improved from last year to this year. She puts a lot of pressure on players with how flat and hard she hits the ball and keeping the ball in play.”
Zhao said it is unlikely that she will play tennis for a college team, but may play intramurals. She ranks No. 4 in her class and is considering Cornell, among other schools, to study mathematics, statistics, economics or finance.
In the meantime, Zhao hopes to lead the Bull Dogs back to state for the second time in three years. The just missed last year, falling to eventual state runner-up Providence 3-2 in the Semistate.
“Hopefully, we’ll get to state this year,” Zhao said. “It’s my last season, so I want to end it with something big.”
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What: Columbus East vs. Columbus North girls tennis
When: 4:30 p.m. today
Where: Columbus East High School
Admission: Free
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