2023 NCAA Championships: Tufts' Sharda, CWRU's Aduru & Hopper win D3 individuals

At a historic, combined NCAA championships that brought all three divisions together at the same site for the first time, the Montgomery, N.J. native, who'll continue his academic and athletic career as a graduate student at the University of Virginia next year, had the unique opportunity to celebrate his triumph with his current and soon-to-be teammates simultaneously: He and Aduru clinched victory just moments before Virginia won its second straight Division I men's team title. 

"I think it was on that 3-4 point, where I'm returning, and I just heard a roar," he said. "I didn't know if it was Ohio State winning or I didn't know if it was Virginia winning, but I just—something felt good about it, that I just went into the return and I probably hit the best return of the match on that ball and that flipped the breaker.

"It was awesome. Like, they were pulling me on court, taking pictures with me. … Their sports network was linterviewing me a little and introducing me. It was just a crazy feeling, just that those guys are so welcoming already. I haven't even stepped foot on campus for a day, and they're already so welcoming. ... It was such a great, crazy feeling to go over there and celebrate with them."

Meanwhile, Sharda's win was the first individual men's tennis title in school history, after the Jumbos came up just short of their first men's team title in their first championship appearance. 

"It feels great. It's been a long time coming. I've seen a lot of very good Tufts players play these tournaments," he said. "We had a couple of guys who've come really close. Isaac Gorelik, last year, lost in the semis, Boris Sorkin made the finals a couple of times. But as coach says, it's history today, so I just feel amazing to be a part of that.

"Not everyone gets to finish their career with a win, right? So that feels amazing. It still hurts a lot that I couldn’t get it done in the team event. It was very close, had the opportunity to do it. I wish I played better tennis that day, but I guess that just fueled me to leave a better example in the singles event and just try to give it my best and I was able to do it."

Like his peers, Sharda, a native of Chandigarh, India, also lauded the single-site format.

"Coming from a Division III school, you don't really get this kind of exposure," he said. "You don't really see the [Division I] guys. We followed them all year. We've heard about the top guys so much and our coaches quote them in practices, wanting us to play like them. So it feels amazing. You see them walking right next to you, sharing the same locker rooms, playing on the same courts. 

"It's an amazing feeling. ... I respect and admire the NCAA so much for giving [Division III] the opportunity to be here with all the different divisions, and I wish they keep it going. It's amazing."

For more information on the NCAA Championships, including tickets, draws and schedule, visit the USTA's tournament homepage. For all the latest news from the Division I, II and III tournaments, visit USTA.com's news landing page for the event.