Boys’ Tennis Player of the Year: Menlo’s Evan Burnett

“I’m going to London, not to play. But I am going to be hitting with a pro,” Burnett said. “[Claire Liu is] No. 75 in the world and I’m going to be her practice partner for the week leading up to [the tournament].”

Having just wrapped up his sophomore year for the Knights, Menlo head coach Bill Shine said Burnett is already one of the best players in school history. The fact that Burnett played with a bum shoulder for most of the season made his performance even more impressive as Menlo captured its 32nd league title, winning the West Bay Athletic League crown. He helped lead the Knights to the Central Coast Section team title, holding off Cupertino, 4-3. Burnett then teamed with Rohan Shah to win the CCS doubles title before moving back to the top of the Knights’ singles ladder and leading Menlo to the Nor Cal crown, dominating Cupertino 7-0.

For his efforts, Burnett is the Daily Journal’s Boys’ Tennis Player of the Year.

“He beat the guy who won CCS singles,” Shine said. “He solidified himself as the best player in the Central Coast Section.”

It wasn’t easy. Burnett came into the season with a shoulder injury, but instead of just shutting him down, Shine put Burnett at No. 1 doubles, where he spent a large portion of the season.

“He always wanted to play,” Shine said. “I was kind of impatient to get him ready for CCS playoffs. Anything before that, I told him, ‘Don’t worry about the record.’ We just needed him for the playoffs.”

Instead of moping around that he wasn’t playing singles, Burnett decided to make the most of the situation.

“My season was definitely a little weird. I was moving around the lineup,” Burnett said. “I started out at No. 1 doubles just because it was easier on my shoulder.

“Every time I play doubles, I just kind of developed a new thing for my singles game. Volleys are a huge part of it. I need to do this more, attacking at the net more. That helped me as the season went along to implement in my singles game.”

Playing doubles allowed Burnett to work on his all-around game and when he did finally move into singles play at the National Invitational Tournament in Newport Beach, Burnett learned a lot about himself.

“Down in Newport, my arm was hurting. But I got some good wins there. It was a good thing because it showed that I could compete at less than 100%,” Burnett said. “I kind of went with the expectation that I wouldn’t be there 100%. Mentally, just knowing that, helped me.

“I gained a lot of confidence knowing I could win in a lot of different ways.”

For Burnett, his game starts with his booming serve. Shine had seen glimpses of it when Burnett was a freshman in 2021 and even though his arm was hurting, Burnett showed that he could still bring it.

“He was getting free points off his serve a lot,” Shine said. “When the CCS started is when he was ready to go. He was probably like 90% (at CCS). He could really cut it loose on his serve the latter part of the season.”

Shine said a growth spurt for Burnett helped him with his service game. That and a strong work ethic on the part of Burnett.

“I grew a lot during COVID, which changed the way I play. Going into COVID, I was about 5-7, 5-8. Right now, I’m 6-2. Friends and family didn’t recognize me because I grew taller,” Burnett said.

Not only has Burnett’s stature changed, so did his game and Shine thinks he will only get better.

“He’s the whole package. He has a lot of ways he can win. He can stay back and grind, and he can always go into the net and volley if he needs to,” Shine said. “That’s what is so unique about him. If one game isn’t working, he can go to something else. He doesn’t really have any weaknesses.

“A lot of these kids have good, all-around games, but they won’t go to the net. They stay in their comfort zone. Whereas Evan isn’t afraid to get better at the net. He’s willing to do that. That’s why he’s as good as he is.”