Three-time OHSAA tennis state champion Amiya Bowles skipping senior season at Bexley

With a potential professional career in her future, Bexley girls tennis phenom and three-time Division II state singles champion Amiya Bowles has opted to skip her final high school season.

Bowles, who went 56-0 at Bexley and lost only one set, said in a text message Sept. 2 that her “focus now is on advancing (to) the next stage of my tennis career, polishing my skills and competing in higher-level tournaments.”

She had not played in a high school match this season. It had been customary for Bowles to play only against top competition in the regular season.

“Although I won’t be a part of the team this season, I plan to continue supporting the girls whenever possible,” said Bowles, who competes nationally and internationally.

Bowles, a five-star recruit who is ranked first statewide and in the Great Lakes region and 32nd nationally by TennisRecruiting.com, became the seventh three-time singles champion in state history last fall despite a brief speed bump.

She went to three sets in a state semifinal against Cincinnati Indian Hill’s Martha Thompson, winning 6-7 (8-10), 6-4, 6-4 in a match that took almost four hours. Bowles then swept Pepper Pike Orange’s Genevieve Hayden 6-4, 6-1 in the final.

Bowles and Thompson met in the 2022 and 2023 state finals.

Bowles’ decision means Andrea Farley of Indian Hill will, for now, remain Ohio’s only four-time state champion. Farley pulled off the feat from 1985-88.

Sophomore Vivian Gockstetter and freshman Hazel Williams have played No. 1 singles so far this season for Bexley (4-4).

Bowles played a limited regular-season schedule in 2024 before winning 11 matches in the postseason. The first six were by shutout.

This story will be updated.

High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA tennis: Three-time Ohio champion Bowles skipping senior season