Deer Valley brothers excel on the tennis court

Courtesy of ThePress.net
by Justin Lafferty

Brothers Abid and Zahid Ahmad were playing tennis on Xbox one day when it occurred to them: why don’t we give this a shot in real life? It looked easy for the virtual Andy Roddick, they figured, so how hard could it be?

Following a climb up the learning curve, the brothers found that tennis translated nicely from joystick to racket. The game has helped the Pakistan-born brothers, now the No. 1 and 2 singles players for Deer Valley High, stay focused through a transfer and the sickness of their father, acclimate to life in the United States and visualize a brighter future.

“They really have improved a tremendous amount this year,” Wolverines head coach Brian Richardson said. “They both had a lot of raw talent, but they just didn’t know how to put it all together. After maybe the first year and a half, you could see them start to put it all together.”

Abid, a senior, and Zahid, a junior, moved to Antioch from Pakistan in 2007 after their father, Abdullha, settled into his job as a taxi driver in Oakland. The brothers were playing for fun at Antioch’s Chichibu Park in their early days at Antioch High when head tennis coach Larry Johnson saw potential and asked them to come out for the team.

Abid, Zahid and older brother Rashed soon worked their way through the ranks, along with cousin Ikram Najib, now the Panthers’ No. 1 singles player. With senior Rashed, junior Abid and sophomore Zahid on last year’s roster, Antioch claimed the Bay Valley Athletic League title.

But about a year and a half ago, Abdullha started to feel sick. While he was taking medication for arthritis, his condition worsened and his energy took a dive. Abid and Zahid’s older brother, Hamid, said their father started getting bad headaches and needed long periods of rest. Abdullha hasn’t told his 10 children the specifics of what’s going on, not wanting to distract them from their studies, work and athletic pursuits.

He’s a proud dad, but the sickness (and his own nerves) have prevented him from seeing his kids play tennis for a while. Abdullha is happy that tennis has given Abid and Zahid a future: next year, Abid will attend American River College, which boasts a stellar tennis program, and plans to transfer to a four-year school. Zahid is also looking forward to playing tennis in college.

“I’m happy,” Abdullha said. “All of my kids are good. They speak to me, I love them, they love me.”

In order to accompany the large family and to be closer to Abdullha in the hospital, the Ahmads moved from Antioch High’s part of town to a bigger house in Deer Valley’s zone. Understanding the situation with Abdullha, Johnson didn’t have a problem with the move, although the Ahmads were required to prove hardship to North Coast Section officials in order to transfer to Deer Valley without a year of ineligibility.

Abid was looking forward to a strong senior season at Antioch, where he was among family. “I was kind of disappointed because it was my senior year,” he said. “I wanted to finish at the same school.”

The transfer allowed Abid and Zahid to come under the tutelage of Richardson, whose summer camp the brothers had attended for the past three years. The familiarity with Richardson’s style helped the transition. Out of the top spot on the Wolverines’ ladder, Abid finished the season 9-1 in Bay Valley Athletic League play. Zahid ended the year 10-0.

“It’s been a pleasure to work with them,” Richardson said.

The brothers were a prominent part of Tuesday’s league tournament. Richardson moved Zahid to the doubles bracket, pairing him with sophomore Cameron Yee. The team lost to the Heritage pair of Matt De La Madrid and Colin Friedel in the semifinals.

Abid, who stayed in the singles tournament, was matched against another fierce competitor in Freedom’s Jeff Matteri for the finals. Abid emerged victorious in the emotional match, 6-1, 6-4.

His motivation to clinch the title? Abdullha, who smiled later that day as he handled his boy’s gold medal.

“Everybody became happy,” Abdullha said. “It’s good news.”