Olivia Soares

Freshman Sachika Kamath gets ready to serve during a match for Cal this season. Kamath is 3-0 for the Grizzlies.

Cal High’s women’s tennis team has a new star.
Freshman Sachika Kamath has brought her nationally ranked talent to the courts this year and emerged as Cal women’s varsity team’s No. 1 singles player.
Kamath is ranked No. 31 in Northern California for girls 16 and under and No. 13 for girls under 14, according to the U.S. Tennis Association.
As a freshman, Kamath plays, and generally wins, against players up to three years older than her. Her record this season is 3-0 as of Sept, 28, helping lead the team to a 3-1 record.
The Grizzlies traveled to Dublin on Tuesday before The Californian went to press.
She feels that despite being so young the team is very welcoming of her and are supporting her in getting better.
Kamath said everyone on the team is really nice and she is optimistic about the Grizzlies chances this year, saying she expects the team to do well.
Kamath practices up to three hours every day with the hopes of eventually playing Division 1 in college.
Dedicating 21 hours a week to tennis is a huge time commitment, but Kamath is able to juggle both school and her sport by managing her time well. In addition to her rigorous practice schedule, she also attends the Lafayette tennis academy.
Kamath started playing tennis with her dad, Shashi Kamath, when she was seven. He was her first coach and she continues to train with him.
Both of Kamath’s parents encourage her pursuit of tennis.
“My parents are really supportive of me because they want me to do really well,” Kamath said. “We travel a lot because of tennis, to tournaments every weekend.”
In addition to playing tennis, Kamath loves watching professional tennis tournaments. In fact, Kamath’s favorite memory playing tennis was a college-style tournament called the USTA zone team championship in San Diego in August 2022.
College-style tournaments are unique because of their formatting. They have two rounds: round one consists of three doubles matches and round two consists of six singles matches.
Kamath said that her biggest achievement was winning the 2021 Little Mo Nationals in Austin, Texas.
In the final match, Kamath won two out of three sets, winning 6-2, 4-6, and 6-3.
Kamath’s teammates believe she has the potential to play for a D-1 college because she’s already shining as the team’s best player.
Senior co-captain Tomoka Teh said one of Kamath’s qualities is having good sportsmanship on and off the court.
“She’s always putting work into what she’s doing and we definitely think she will make D-1,” Teh said
Cal Varsity tennis coach Manuel Vasquez believes Kamath has a bright future ahead of her. He described one of Kamath’s sportsmanship highlights after she beat a player from Ryan Campbell team 6-0.
Instead of gloating, she motivated and showed kindness to the player after the game.
With such passion for tennis Kamath is sure to continue playing through high school.
“I’m still going to [be on] the team for every year because I really like how it is,” Kamath said.
Vasquez agreed that Kamath’s sportsmanship is one of her strongest points and that she knows how to handle wins and losses.
“[She’s] a real pro at the game,” Vasquez said.
A common sentiment that Kamath’s teammates share is that they admire her sportsmanship.
Junior Alexa Hoss said “I would define [Kamath] as very empathetic because she’s had lots of opponents that she’s lost to yet she’s always has good sportsmanship toward them,”
Vasquez said that Kamath is a 4-star recruit and has three more years of high school experience to get the one last star required for her to go D-1.
“Even as a freshman, Kamath is already the star of the team,” Vasquez said.