Finally here.

After the highly anticipated arrival of girls tennis player Anastasia Goncharova to the team, she has made it all worth on and off the court.

“As a player, she is an absolute beast on the court. I call her poetry in motion,” coach Joyce Anderson said. “But as a person, Anastasia is sweet, humble and easy to get along with.”

For her first two years as a student at ETHS, Goncharova spent her time playing tennis for Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago. She decided that she would start playing high school tennis starting her junior year, as that is the most important year for college recognition.

“Anastasia raises the entire team’s intensity level. She gives the other girls on the team an extra sense of motivation,” Anderson said. “She truly leads by example when she’s on the court.”

“Playing for ETHS has been a great experience for me so far,” Goncharova said. “It has been great getting to know my teammates and we have really become like a family. Also, playing against my close friends from other schools has been a very cool experience.”

After moving to the United States from her hometown in Moscow, Russia six years ago, Goncharova has been working on improving her national and state player ranking. Currently, she is ranked 5th in the state of Illinois for the class of 2018, and 57th overall in the nation.

Being apart of both the Midtown and ETHS tennis programs have helped her improve her game both physically and mentally.

“She is a lefty with amazing footwork. She has an advantage because of the spin she puts on her serves, and the angle of her shots come from different places. She really can hit every shot.” Anderson said.

With this advanced skill and passion, Goncharova helped the girls tennis team achieve their best sectional round team finish in history, including a victory against the No. 1 seeded Michelle Bacalla of Niles North for the No. 1 singles sectional championship, whom she had previously lost to, for another record finish.

“The first time around, she didn’t have her best performance against her,” Anderson said. “Anastasia was frustrated, so we really focused on playing different strategies and keeping her head in the game.”

All of this success has lead to intense interest from Division 1 tennis programs. Goncharova’s ultimate goal is to take her talents to the next level. Her dream is to compete in professional tournaments, and eventually make it to the U.S Open. Watch as she continues that journey right here in the coming years.