Zoe Karelis '24 Recruiting Profile

I’ve been playing tennis since my 6th grade year. I was able to start playing varsity tennis for Hazard High School as a 7th grader and I was already second seed. That season, I qualified for state as well as my freshman year. My 8th grade season was canceled due covid, but I also lost my sophomore year. 

In fall of 2021, my doctors found my brain tumor. In the same week, I had brain surgery and I was in recovery for all of my soccer season and winter. I wasn’t able to stay active due to migraines and weight restrictions so my 2022 season was greatly affected. I did not qualify for state for the first time since playing on my high school team. Not only was I behind physically, but my mental game shattered. I felt as though I was completely starting over in my tennis career. I’ve always wanted to play tennis in college but I was out of shape and at this point, I only had two years to build myself back up to where I used to be and that still wouldn’t be enough. I started focusing on cardio and practicing ground strokes and serves for 2+ hours daily. I‘m the number one seed for HHS currently and this season has been tough but I won’t go down this year like I did last year and i’m proud of my progress but I also know I still have so much that i’m willing to learn.