Mount Sinai's Sofia Perez shows off her resiliency at girls tennis state championships
Sofia Perez of Mt. Sinai in a singles match in the round of 32 on Monday October 27, 2025 at the USTA in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Perseverance has defined Sofia Perez’s tennis journey. Two years ago, she broke her back — twice — and spent nine months fighting her way back onto the court. Last season, the Mount Sinai sophomore reached the state tournament but fell in the Round of 16.
On Monday, Perez’s resilience was on full display at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. After dropping the first set, she stormed back to defeat Manhasset’s Diane Durante, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, earning a spot in the quarterfinals of the girls tennis state individual championships.
“I definitely felt the pressure in the first set because I knew I was going against a strong player,” Perez said. “After losing the first, I just thought to myself, 'I’ve already made it this far, I might as well give it everything I’ve got.”'
Winning that second set gave Perez the boost she needed to close it out in the third.
“I started to feel more confident, and I wanted to keep building off of that,” she said. “I started making more of my first serves, which was crucial, and I made sure I was running for every ball.”
Earlier in the day, Perez cruised through her opening-round match, defeating Maddison Mero (Peru), 6-0, 6-1. Now, she’s embracing the chance to compete among the state’s best.
“I’m just ready to go in [Tuesday] and give it my all,” Perez said. “No matter what happens, I just want to make sure I have fun.”
Division's Lillian Chou turned in a dominant showing, blanking Jade Burdo (Beekmantown), 6-0, 6-0, before defeating Longwood’s Sofia Matos, 6-3, 6-2.
Great Neck South eighth-grader Gabrielle Villegas also impressed with a commanding first-day performance with wins of 6-2, 6-2, and 6-2, 6-0.
“I feel like I was changing the direction really well and moving my opponent side-to-side,” Villegas said. “My serve was also better than usual, probably from my adrenaline.”
Nassau singles champion Stephanie Marcheret also advanced to the quarterfinals after winning her matches, 6-1, 6-0, and 6-0, 6-0.
“I’m having the time of my life,” Marcheret said. “There are a lot of really good players here, and it’s fun to just play some good tennis.”
For Syosset’s doubles duo of Hannah Wang and Skylar Lin, what started as a new pairing at the county tournament has quickly become a friendship — and a winning combination.
After spending most of the season playing singles, the two recently decided to team up, and the partnership has paid off. Wang and Lin advanced through the opening rounds with a 6-2, 6-1 initial victory, followed by defeating familiar foes in Port Washington's Christiana Kent and Shoriya Bhat-Bhandarkar, 7-5, 6-4.
“I was excited to play them because we played them in the county finals and I knew it’d be a tough match,” Lin said. “We really had to stay composed and trust each other the whole time.”
And tough it was. In the first set, Syosset trailed 5-2 before rallying to win five straight games and take the set.
“We knew that we had to change something,” Wang said. “We started to change the pace and we really found our rhythm.”
Port Washington’s Evie Loewy and Brianna Lewis and Ross' duo Lola Dangin and Lillie Weiss also advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
