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04/13/2017 12:00 AMSenior Tony Cofrancesco was recruited to play tennis from the basketball program at East Haven. That’s been the story for several Yellowjackets’ tennis players, although Tony has taken even more of a liking to the sport than many of his peers. Tony earned the No. 1 singles position in the Easties’ lineup as a sophomore and has held on to that spot ever since.
“I would consider tennis my main sport because I have more of a passion for tennis once I started to play,” Tony says. “I definitely had to work on it, but the game just came easier to me.”
Of course, there was a steep learning curve for Tony when he joined the tennis team as a freshman. However, Tony overcame that pretty quickly as a result of his athletic background, as well as his attention to detail when working with Head Coach Rob Manghnani.
“I didn’t even know how to hold a racquet when I first stepped on the court,” says Tony, a senior captain. “[Coach Manghnani] over the years showed me how to play and helped me strategize. After every match, we’d go over what happened, what I did good, and what I did wrong. That has helped me learn what do to and not to do during a match.”
Manning the No. 1 singles slot can be a daunting task for any tennis player. Although Tony has seen some ups and downs while competing against some of the state’s best players, he knows how important it is for him to hold down that position in the Yellowjackets’ lineup—and so does Coach Manghnani.
“I think it helps him physically to get better because he is playing and competing against the best of the SCC. Mentally, I can see it being challenging because the wins and losses are a little uneven, which can be draining on a player. Tony, however, knows that him playing the 1 gives our team the best opportunity to win and, as a two-year captain and leader of our team, the team win is more important than the individual,” says Manghnani. “I think Tony took such a liking to tennis because he was able to rely on himself and not have to worry about being a smaller part of a team. He is able to put the pressure on just himself and can win or lose without any excuses. Also, tennis allows him to utilize his athleticism, which gave him early success against opponents who had more experience, but not the strength and quickness that Tony displayed.”
Tony says that he started taking a different approach to his matches once he got used to playing No. 1 singles.
“My mentality is totally different from then to now. I was just learning how to play and it was hard to figure out what to do in a match while going up against some of my competition. Now that I’ve developed more, I have a better mentality where I stay calm and play my game,” he says. “Maturity-wise, instead of going into a match saying I can’t win, I go in respecting my opponent, but not being afraid of what their skill level is compared to mine.”
This spring marks Tony’s second season as one of East Haven’s captains. He felt honored to step into a leadership position last year, especially since he earned the title of captain as a junior.
“It was a very honorable thing to have because I know my coach doesn’t have junior captains often. It means a lot to me because he saw something in me, but it was definitely a lot of fun, too, because I was able to help my teammates,” says Tony. “It was a lot of fun as a first-year captain for me. This year, I have to be the guy that steps up to the plate when things matter. If we’re down in a match, I have to not give up and move onto the next point. If you try your hardest, that’s all that matters. You’ve got to give everything you’ve got.”
While Tony has put in a ton of work with the Yellowjackets the past few years, he simply enjoys the experience of being a tennis player at East Haven. As a result, Tony plans to keep playing the sport for years to come, and he’s even thought about becoming a coach one day.
“I’m still going to play and come back to East Haven, maybe even getting a coaching job for tennis. [Coach Manghnani] I haven’t talked about it, but I think he knows how much I care about the team and this sport,” says Tony. “I look at this as a sport I can play until the day I stop walking. That’s the kind of game this is to me.”