Palm Beach boys tennis player of the year: Nicholas Snyder, St. Andrew’s senior

St. Andrew’s Nicholas Snyder has kept Scots tennis excellence in the family.

The senior is following in his sister Sara’s footsteps, literally and figuratively. Sara closed out her senior year in 2021 at St. Andrew’s winning the triple crown — overall singles, doubles, and the team championships for the Scots before heading off to Furman University.

Nico, indeed, also won the overall singles championship and doubles title, and helped the Scots win a sixth team title in a row. He finished the year 16-1 in singles and 17-0 with doubles partner Julien Fente. Like his sister, Snyder is also headed to Furman.

“My sister did it (won that triple crown) two years in a row a little while back, so it is good that she is not the only one in the family to do it,” quipped Snyder, who moved to No. 1 singles after playing No. 4 the previous two years. “I’ve always wanted to play on the same team as my sister and the opportunity to be able to play D1 tennis at the same place as her is just too good to pass up.

“Although she has made a name for herself there by playing No. 1 this year and being ranked in both singles and doubles, I think it would be cool if I could also leave my mark there and she’s not the only Snyder doing that at Furman,” he continued. “So basically, even though I am following her, I want my name to also be remembered and not just hers.”

Snyder, a team captain, needed to play nine matches in three days to accomplish the state troika. He was especially proud of his doubles win with Fente since they have known and played doubles together since they were 12.

St. Andrew’s coach Reid Rafter said it would be tough to replace someone of Snyder’s skill set. Snyder, who stands a towering 6 feet 8, has gone 21-0 the past three years at the state tournament.

“Nico has grown, literally and figuratively, every year,” Rafter said. “The last few years he’s been an important contributor to the team, but he played in the middle of the lineup. This year, he played number one, and in my opinion, was the best high school player in the state.

“He has come up big when we needed him throughout his career as evidenced by his never having lost a singles match at states,” Rafter continued. “He punctuated his high school career by winning the triple crown.”