In their first year as doubles partners, it didn’t take long for Ottawa seniors Kaden Araujo and Ayden Sexton to find that their talents complemented each other very well this past season.

The Pirates duo used that advantage to end the campaign with 25 victories, while finishing runner-up at the Interstate 8 Conference Tournament, placing third at the Class 1A La Salle-Peru Sectional and then going 1-2 at the IHSA State Finals Tournament.

For their accomplishments, Araujo and Sexton have been voted the 2026 Times Boys Tennis Players of the Year

“Playing doubles tennis is really about trying to set up your partner for winning shots and make it easy on each other,” Araujo said. “I think while we both enjoy hitting that winning shot, we both also enjoy putting each other in a situation to do that as well.”

“I feel like both of us would have been able to do pretty well if we’d played singles, but I also think we were better players in doubles,” Sexton said. “We both have our strengths and weaknesses, but I think what one of us wasn’t good at, the other one was. I think that’s why we worked together well.”

For both Araujo and Sexton, the game of tennis wasn’t one they played often until high school, but both found it a perfect fit.

“In baseball my eighth-grade year, I broke my wrist in the very first game, so after that, my freshman year I decided I wanted to do something new, and I picked up tennis,” Araujo said. “It was a great decision.

“I think the No. 1 thing that has kept me playing tennis is the coaches we have and how fun they make everything. [Varsity] Coach [Matt] Gross and [JV] Coach [Tracey] O’Fallon have been so great all four years. For me, putting my teammate in a position to get an overhead smash for a winner or getting one myself is my favorite part inside the game. I would say this year it was having those matches where Ayden and I were really clicking as a team was great as well.”

“The summer before freshman year, I decided to sign up for city rec tennis just to try it,” Sexton said. “I really liked it, but I didn’t have plans on going out for the team in the spring. One of my friends kind of convinced me I should do it.

“I’ve stuck with tennis because there really isn’t anything about the game I don’t like. I think like most of us, I wasn’t really that great when I first started, but the challenge of trying to get better really pushed me to stay with it.”

At sectionals, Araujo and Sexton opened with a pair of wins, the second punching their tickets to state. They then fell to the Metamora team of Dane Hutchison and Hunter Polle (6-3, 6-3) before bouncing back with a come-from-behind 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Pontiac’s Zack Legner and Kole Donze.

“The most exciting match this season for me was when we won the [quarterfinal] sectional match [6-3, 6-1 victory over Pontiac’s Owen Masching/Ben Melchers] that qualified us for state,” Araujo said. “Going to the state tournament was our goal from the start of the season, so winning that match to reach that goal was really neat.

“It was great to see what we’d been working for all year was going to happen.”

Araujo and Sexton scored a 6-4, 6-3 win over Jacksonville’s Collin Knollhoff and Tristan Northrop in the opening round of consolation play, following a 6-3, 6-4 loss in the opening round and a 6-2, 6-4 defeat in the second round of consolation play.

While clinching a state spot at sectionals and getting a chance to compete at the state level was in his top memories from the season, it was another aspect of the state experience that made the top of Sexton’s list.

“To be honest, while playing at state and all the stuff around that was cool, the hotel we stayed at was my best memory,” Sexton said with a smile as he and Araujo shared a laugh. “It was really, really nice. I’d never stayed in a place like that, and I wasn’t really expecting it. I mean, they made whatever you wanted for breakfast right in front of you. It was amazing.”

Araujo and Sexton will both be attending IVCC starting in the fall. Araujo will be working toward a degree in accounting or finance before a transfer to a four-year university, while Sexton will begin pursuing a degree to become a high school science teacher.

Sexton plans to continue playing tennis for the Eagles, while Araujo said he’s retired and “ending his competitive career on a high note.”