Thursday, May 3, 2012

KEVIN R. WEXLER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Nick Bradley, who is 12-0, gave up baseball after hurting his shoulder. The Tennis Report, S-10

Still, you can't blame his parents.

"My dad used to take me to work every day," the Waldwick sophomore said of his father, John, a teaching pro at the Ridgewood Racquet Club. "So I was forced to play on the courts all day."

A sports nut from the time he was 4 years old, Bradley is the type of athlete who could be successful at just about anything he tries.

He is a tremendous golfer who can drive the ball 300 yards, and as a freshman last year had a huge homer in the Warriors' run to the Group 1 state final when he chose to concentrate on non-high school tennis while playing baseball.

But pushed by an injury to his shoulder to make a decision between baseball and tennis, Bradley turned in his bat this season to concentrate full time on high school and tournament tennis and has become one of the top first singles players in North Jersey and a serious threat to go far in both the Bergen and state tournaments.

"That was the last sport I had to narrow down," said Bradley, who also played soccer and basketball when he was a kid. "Throwing a baseball and playing tennis were just too much. It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make."

The baseball team's loss is the tennis team's gain as the Warriors, 4-12 last year, are 9-4 this season.

"Having Nick on the team has given them a sense of what it means to win," coach Ted Opderbeck said of Bradley (12-0). "He's not a vocal role model but leads by example. He leads by his approach to practice and to matches."

And he has given the Warriors depth, with each player in the lineup dropping down to a more competitive level in the starting lineup.

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