Adam Guo’s tennis world gets brighter with each ball he hammers toward opponents with his “killer” forehand, as described by his Redmond High coach Norm Vener.

The Mustang sophomore No. 1 singles player continued to roll through 4A Kingco play by dispatching his Mount Si High foe, 6-0, 6-0, on Thursday. He’s got a 5-1 record in high school contests, but also hones his skills at Northwest High Performance Tennis at the Eastside Tennis Center in Kirkland. The 15-year-old is ranked fourth in the 16U division of the United States Tennis Association’s Northwest Section, sits 10th nationally in his age group in the Rating Percentage Index and is listed as a four-star recruit on the Tennis Recruiting Network website.

Vener feels Guo can qualify for the 4A state tournament this season and make an impact wherever there’s a racket, net, ball and opponent available.

“He’s got national-level groundstrokes, forehand and backhand. He plays an all-out (effort), all-court game,” Vener said before the Mount Si match, which Redmond won, 7-0. “He’s pretty intense, but has a quiet intensity. He gets the job done and plays pretty efficiently.”

Guo’s only loss this season was to Issaquah High’s Jackson Suh, a top-30 16U national player who finished second at 4A state last year. The friends train together at the Eastside Tennis Center, hitting balls together every morning, Guo said.

Guo, who has been playing tennis since he was 7, enjoys the mentality aspect of the sport, which also helps with his schoolwork and friendships. Guo added that Redmond High captain Aaron Ong pushes him to excel academically and on the tennis court.

“You need to work hard to perform on the biggest stage,” said Guo, who also credits his club coach Dan Willman for his success.

The Mustang right-hander said he’s an aggressive baseline player, but feels he needs to work on his serve to qualify for state.

Other keys to success for Guo are “staying confident on the court and playing the ball, not the opponent,” he said.

As Guo interacted with his teammates before the Mount Si match, coach Vener said that his No. 1 singles guy can be a bit of a jokester. Vener added that once the ball bounces into play, however, Guo gets serious: “There’s no fooling around and he’s very disciplined on the court.”