Some teams are made up of several players who work together to be victorious. Other sports rely on individuals to bring in scores on their own. Tennis is a little different. Sometimes players work alone, and sometimes they work in pairs. Leah Patel and Sonia Dosanjh are a doubles team in tennis.

Leah Patel got onto the team because she wanted to play a fall sport. She was going down the list and saw that tennis was on there and that it required no experience at all. It seemed like a fun extracurricular activity. She is surprisingly flexible and can even bend her legs over her shoulders. Although she doesn’t need to do that when she plays, that flexibility helps her stay quick on the court. 

“It’s really fun and easy, plus you meet a lot of new people,” she said. One of those new people who has become her friend is one of her doubles partners, Sonia Dosanjh. Dosanjh decided to get into tennis because she saw it as an interesting sport, and she was also drawn in because she had no experience until this year.

Patel plays #9 doubles while Dosanjh plays #10 doubles. When they play together, their weaknesses and strengths complement each other. Dosanjh prefers playing farther on the court while Patel is good at playing towards the net and can get to the ball faster. 

“I love playing with Leah because, not only is she really nice and has a great personality, but we know how to communicate really well with each other,“ Dosanjh said.

The two have created an almost sister-like relationship because, not only do they have so much in common, but Patel said that she feels closer to Dosanjh because they are both Indian. “Mistakes will happen, but they are key to learning and growing and only help you get better at something,” Patel said.

Outside of tennis Patel has a range of interests. She likes to spend her time doing Taekwondo, baking, reading, hanging out with friends, and running track. Dosanjh enjoys reading, baking and sleeping.