Tennis - Varsity (Boys)

Overview
Welcome to Westtown Tennis
Throughout the years, the Westtown boys’ tennis program has enjoyed strong participation, the gifts and skills of many talented players, and exceptional tennis facilities.
The program’s primary goal is to foster a love for a game that can be played an entire lifetime while teaching level appropriate technique, match play tactics and strategy, and the rules of tennis to players of all levels. Other areas of emphasis include working with students to develop the necessary discipline and responsibility of balancing the school’s academic rigor with the demands of a Varsity/JV program. Student-athletes learn how to use practice time effectively and how to properly prepare (physically and mentally) for competitive match play to constantly advance their games. With these goals serving as the framework for our program, we have seen (and are very proud of) marked improvement in the play of our team and we are equally appreciative and respectful of the effort and commitment demonstrated by our boys throughout the season. Boys’ tennis at Westtown continues to thrive.
If you have questions about the tennis program, would like more information, or if you would just like to share a tennis story or discuss a favorite tennis pro, I invite you to contact me. There is always time in my schedule to talk tennis.
About the program
Boys' tennis at Westtown is offered in the fall and spring. In the fall, the boys’ tennis training and development program focuses on strength and conditioning, core training, and skills development through drilling and intra-team match play. The fall season’s emphasis is to provide an opportunity to train and build skills with an eye towards the competitive interscholastic spring season. While the fall season does not have team match play against other schools, outside competitive match play is available through weekend USTA Middle States sanctioned events and our school’s participation in the Saturday afternoon Philadelphia Area Junior Team Tennis League.
The spring season, which starts late February and runs through the middle of May, is the boys’ program’s interscholastic competitive season. Matches are played against seven schools from the Friends Schools League (our league affiliation) and five schools from the Delaware Independent School Conference (DISC). Both the Friends Schools League and DISC schools provide excellent competition with highly ranked and talented Middle States Junior players on rosters throughout the schools. Several additional matches are played against other local area schools rounding out a 14-16 match spring schedule.
More specific details about the boys’ program include regular participation from 20-24 boys in the fall and spring seasons. In the spring season, the varsity team is comprised of 8-10 boys while 12-16 boys play on the JV team. Practices run from 3:45-5:30 each weekday and are spent on strength and conditioning, stroke mechanics and skills development through dead and live ball drilling, game tactics and strategy discussion, and team building. Results from the Friends Schools League regular season matches determine the top four schools that advance to the team tournament and compete for the Friends Schools League Championship. Regular season matches are typically played on Tuesday and Friday with occasional match play on Thursday and Saturday throughout the season. An FSL individual tournament championship follows the team championship and takes the top six players at each position (first, second, and third singles, and first and second doubles) from the eight FSL schools and crowns individual champions at each position.
About the Tennis Facilities
Westtown has an exceptional tennis facility which includes 14 all weather outdoor courts and 4 multi purpose indoor spaces located in its fieldhouse which can be used for indoor courts.
The 14 outdoor courts consist of an 8 court stadium facility (4 courts newly resurfaced summer 2012) with raised stadium seating for spectators and a large two-and-a-half court-wide hitting wall for individual stroke work.
Six additional courts, built in the fall of 2002, sit just below the stadium facility where spectators are able to enjoy match play from a hillside. A hitting backboard sits along the backside of court 11 for individual stroke work.
The 14 outdoor courts are shared in the fall and spring by the boys’ and girls’ programs and provide outstanding space for on-court instruction, player development, and match play experience.
Team Schedule
Team | Opponent | Date | Time | Location | Details | Result | Score | Alerts | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
Perkiomen
|
|
-
|
Details | Win | 3-2 | |||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
Peddie
|
|
-
|
Westtown School - Stadium Courts | Details | Loss | 2-3 | ||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
GFS
|
|
-
|
Westtown School - Stadium Courts | Details | Loss | 1-4 | ||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
Shipley
|
|
|
Westtown School - Stadium Courts | Details | Win | 3-2 | ||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
|
-
|
Westtown School - Stadium Courts | Details | CANCELLED | ||||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
FSS
|
|
-
|
Westtown School - Stadium Courts | Details | ||||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
AFS
|
|
-
|
Details | |||||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
MFS
|
|
-
|
Westtown School - Stadium Courts | Details | ||||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
George
|
|
-
|
Details | Win | 5-0 | |||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
FCS
|
|
-
|
Details | Win | 4-1 | |||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
vs.
Abington Friends
|
|
-
|
Details | Win | 5-0 | |||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
FSL Semifinals v Shipley
|
|
-
|
Westtown School - Stadium Courts | Details | Win | 3-2 | ||
Tennis - Varsity (Boys) |
FSL Championship @ GFS
|
|
-
|
Germantown Friends | Details | Loss | 0-5 |
Roster
Coach Info

Fazel Syed - Director of Tennis and Head Coach
Westtown School is thrilled to announce that Fazal Syed has been appointed the new Director of Tennis at Westtown School. Syed's accomplishments as both a professional tennis player and coach are nothing short of remarkable. Born and raised in India, Syed was ranked #1 as a junior (U-18) in India and represented India in the Davis Cup. He enjoyed a successful professional playing career both internationally and here in the States, and most recently he founded Level 7 Tennis, which provides high-level tennis training camps and individual instruction in Chester County and on the Mainline. In addition to serving as the Girls and Boys Head Varsity Coach at Westtown School, Syed will now call Westtown home and the base of his operations for Level 7 Tennis.
Some of Syed's accomplishment include:
- USTA Middle States Pro of the year 2017
- Coached former world #1 doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi and Martin Dam (top 10 Doubles) in 2005 US open circuit
- Coached US Open 2005 Mixed doubles Champion Mahesh Bhupathi
- Competed on the ATP tour achieving a Top 400 ranking in singles and Top 200 ranking in doubles
- Represented India in Davis Cup
- US 35's Singles National Grass court champion 2011
- US 30's Doubles National Grass court champion 2010
- National grass court Champion of India 2000
- Earned sportsman of the year by Calcutta Sports Journalists Club 2000
- Earned #1 ranking as an Amateur by the USTA 1997-98
- Winner of USTA National Clay court championships 1997
- Bronze medalist for India in Asian Games in Bangkok
- Played collegiate tennis at Temple University (#1 singles and doubles)
- Elected captain of Men's Tennis at Temple University
- Ranked # 1 as a junior (U-18) in India
- Faculty member of US Tennis Congress
John Howanski - Assistant Coach
John Howanksi has ten years of coaching experience and has instructed all levels of tennis athletes during his coaching tenure. For the past five years, he has served as the head coach of the girls tennis team at Kennett High School.
Howanski earned a BS at West Chester University in Kinesiology and a Certification in Health and Physical Education. He will complete a Master's Degree in Health Education from West Chester University in the spring of 2018. He played varsity tennis at WCU while a student. In addition to coaching girls tennis at Kennett, Howanksi is also a a full-time Physical Education teacher in the Kennett Consolidated School District. Westtown's Co-Athletic Director Paul Lehmann says, "We are very excited about the expertise and energy John will bring to our tennis program. In addition to his playing experience at West Chester University, he has done a tremendous job of building the girls tennis program at Kennett High School. We are eager to see him build upon our already strong boys tennis program."