Jennifer Karakash, women’s tennis player and sophomore

How has the coronavirus affected training for your sport?

The coronavirus has affected the tennis team because we can’t practice as a team anymore and many clubs are closing as well, so it’s challenging to find a place to practice at all.

Are you having organized practices with the whole team?

We are not having any practices, our season was supposed to start on Monday March 16, but we were unable to begin because of the coronavirus.

What are you doing to train around practice cancelations?

I‘ve been trying to play at my local club, but as of today, March 16, it is closing until further notice due to the coronavirus, so I will likely begin going to the outdoor courts at school.

Do you believe these different training conditions will affect your performance, or your team’s performance in competition?

I believe it might negatively impact our performance because we’ll have less time to prepare before matches begin, so that’s less practice time and our lineup may not be as good as it can be.

Will having to train individually largely impact your season?

I think training individually may impact our team bond, but I don’t think it will impact our tennis results.

What is the largest difference between normal training and training you are now doing because of the break?

The training that is being done now is less structured and we have to take it day by day because we’re not sure what’s open, and we have to make it work for ourselves individually.