NET GAIN: Jonathan Gu prepares to hit a backhand in action this spring during his freshman season for the Carnegie Mellon University men’s tennis team. Former Princeton High star Gu posted a 9-7 overall record in singles and 1-3 in doubles during his debut campaign for the Tartans. (Photo provided courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University Athletics)

By Bill Alden

While Jonathan Gu struggled a bit individually as he started his college career with Carnegie Mellon University men’s tennis squad, he was buoyed by support from his teammates.

“I wasn’t playing too well in the fall, it was a new feeling playing college tennis and just being on a team environment,” said Gu, a former Princeton High standout who won the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state singles title in 2022 and came in second a year later as a senior. “It is really different from high school where everybody is on a team but at the same time we all have our own responsibilities. In college, everybody is cheering as much as they can, everybody is really energized. In high school, it is more individual.”

As Gu adjusted to the college game, he faced high level individual players on a constant basis.

“Everybody in college is a good player, everybody is practicing 20 hours a week,” said Gu. “There is not really any easy matches.”

Gu found a groove as Carnegie Mellon headed into the spring portion of its schedule.

“Early on, I only played only one match because of an injury, I started playing a lot better after spring break,” said Gu, who posted a 9-7 overall record in singles and 1-3 in doubles. “Coach put me in a couple of challenge matches where I proved I could come back to it.”

With the Tartans competing in the University Athletic Association (UAA), one of the top conferences in NCAA Division III tennis, Gu enjoyed the challenge of the hotly-contested dual matches against league foes.

“The dual matches are a lot of fun, you get to see six people playing singles at the same time,” said Gu. “There is a lot of energy and overall. It is really fun being part of a team and experiencing that.”

That team spirit helped put Gu to some memorable moments in his freshman campaign.

“The first time after spring break that I started, I clinched the match when we played Washington and Lee,” said Gu, who mainly played No. 5 singles for the Tartans. “In our conference tournament in our last match against NYU, I remember my third set. If we lost one more match, we would lose. I was in my third set and one of my teammates next to me was down 6-2 in the second set tiebreaker, he won the third and managed to come back. That gave me confidence to go win my third set.”

As the season went on, Gu gained more confidence in his game.

“I would say the number one thing was that my return got better,” said Gu. “Everybody in college serves at a high level, naturally the more returns I get against good servers my return gets better as well. Also since I am playing more against really, really good opponents. I would say just my ability to be able to neutralize balls and get back into rallies got better.”

Working out with his teammates helped Gu get in better condition.

“This was the first time we tested benchmarks like broad jump, vertical, squats and bench press,” said Gu. “I never really went to the gym before. I saw major leaps, it is just the difference from the confidence of working out with the guys.”

Gu also made some major leaps in the classroom. “I was trying to go more to the tech side so I thought that playing at CMU would be a great combination of the tennis and being able to get a great education,” said Gu, who is majoring in information systems. “I am learning a lot, I am taking a lot of computer science and math courses. I am also taking some humanities and general education classes as well.”

This summer, Gu is keeping on the court. “I am going to be playing with Cryan [tennis tournament]; I am also teaching tennis, it has been fun,” said Gu. “I am doing individual lessons right now. I am also playing tennis on my own, hitting with people. I have been hitting with my brother (former PHS star Jerry).”

Heading into his sophomore season for the Tartans, Gu is hoping to build on the progress he made this spring.

“Hopefully I can get to my level straight off the bat last year; I was pretty nervous in the fall with the new environment,” said Gu. “But this year I am more experienced. It is getting back into it and playing at the level I know I can.”

With the high level of play produced by Gu and his fellow freshmen Raghav Jangbahadur and Daniel Kong this season, the future looks bright for the Tartans, who went 8-10 in dual match play in 2024.

“Our first singles, Raghav, won the ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) regionals for the first time at our school in over 15-20 years,” said Gu, who will be rooming with one of his classmates on the team with three others in the same dorm. “Daniel did really well. Next year we have an incoming freshman class where one of the players is like a 12 UTR (Universal Tennis Rating), he is ranked 30 in the country. He is a really good player and we have a couple of other people as well who are really good players. Hopefully we will be even better next year.”