- April 30, 2025
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Lakewood Ranch tennis coach Hannah Legere said her girls team has a shot to make it to the state tournament next year.
However, that could hinge on what freshman Ariana Perez chooses to do.
Like many talented young tennis players, Perez is faced with a difficult decision, whether to continue to play for her local high school or play in tournaments against higher caliber competition.
What makes that decision even harder is what this past year has meant to Perez.
Tennis has been the focal point of Perez’s life for several years now. She first picked up a racket at 5-years-old and has been trained ‘seriously’ for the past five years by her father, Francisco Perez, who used to coach tennis at IMG Academy.
At one point, Perez said she became sick of the sport.
She said she was fatigued and blistered from constant practice and had little opportunities for social interaction with her schedule of homeschooling and tennis practice taking up her time.
That led Perez to Lakewood Ranch High this year, and the transition wasn’t smooth at first.
She said she was cold to teammates during tryouts because she viewed them solely as competition, but that changed once she made the team.
She also had to learn how to manage after-school practice with homework and making new friends — things she didn’t have to worry about when she was homeschooled.
However, she credits her time on the high school team this year — especially laughing and having fun with her teammates — with reinvigorating her passion for the sport.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but ever since I joined the tennis team, I actually like tennis more,” Perez said. “Before I was just doing it. It was just whatever, but when I got on the team, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I really love this, and I want to do more.’”
Despite being a freshman, Perez wound up playing at several positions in the lineup, including No. 1 singles (3-3), No. 2 singles (1-0), No. 4 singles (4-1) and both No. 1 doubles (1-4) and No. 2 doubles (1-0).
Perez played well at the District 4A-10 tournament, too.
Playing in the No. 4 singles bracket, she defeated Kaia Zika of Palmetto (6-0, 6-0) and Sophia Yturralde of Riverview (6-3, 6-0) before losing to Tess Tchorbadjiev of Venice in the finals 6-3, 6-1.
That finish wasn’t satisfactory to Perez.
“People don’t see that I know how to play tennis,” she said. “I wasn’t able to show them during districts that I can actually play. Like, the Riverview girl (Julia Piotrowska) was showing everyone how she was really good, and I wanted to show everyone I was really good, too, but I crumbled in my head. I got nervous and couldn’t hit my shots.”
Perez said she’s still working on the confidence she has in her game. Sometimes that means she resorts to ‘tapping’ the ball instead of putting top spin on her shots to put her opponents in difficult positions.
Part of the reason Perez plays it safe is that she said she plays down to her competition — something that won’t come frequently playing in USTA tournaments.
“She’s a very consistent player,” Legere said of Perez. “She just has to get confident in her own ability to make plays. It’s the maturity of the game, trusting your shots and not overthinking your game too much.”
That leaves Perez in a tricky spot.
In order to grow her game and reach her goal of playing tennis at the collegiate level, she feels that she will have to abandon the team that made her fall in love with the sport again.
Perez said her decision is still up in the air, but there’s a good chance that this year will be her first and last playing high school tennis.
“It’s sacrifice,” Perez said. “If you want to be the best, you have to sacrifice. But you have to find a balance. It’s not all bad. I can focus on my tennis and socialize, too.”
