By LIAM DYER
What do you do when you’re four? Most probably are learning how to play hopscotch and speaking with semi-coherent sentences.
Not Will Denniston. By the age of four, he had already started playing tennis.
Many people play tennis for the physical or the endurance, but those are not the only things that motivate people to play, according to Denniston.
“Tennis is a very individual sport,” Denniston said. “At most, you have one partner on court at a time. However, part of being a member of a team like Penn’s is learning to work together, even though each player is playing their own match.”
Denniston would know about teamwork, having won three tournaments as both a singles and doubles player.
There are many reasons why people play sports, thrill, exercise, competition but the one Denniston thrives off of is fun.
“I perform best when I’m having fun,” Denniston said. “It’s very easy to feel pressure when you’re playing tennis because of how precise the sport is. A single inch of difference in one of your movements can change where the ball lands by feet. With your actions having such large
consequences, being on court can get overwhelming.
“Still, tennis is a game, which is important to remember. When I remind myself to have fun, I’m able to cut loose and play well.”
Tennis can be a very high stress sport. Some fold under the immense pressure of long matches and intense physical strain. With this it is important to remember that tennis, like all games, is meant to be played for fun.
Denniston’s impact is seen by many, including Penn tennis head coach Eric Bowers.
“Will had a fantastic year this past fall,” Bowers said. “He started on JV and worked his way into the varsity line-up. He was a major reason why we were able to make a run to state. The Penn Boys Tennis team looks for him to be a big part of the 2026 tennis lineup.”
As an integral part of the team Denniston helps raise morale as well as expectations ahead of the 2026 tennis season.
