Seniors Nadia Tissembaum and Elsie Smith became the first McCallum students ever to play professional tennis while in high school by competing in the women’s doubles draw of the W-50 Drop Shot Tennis Open on Nov. 12, 2025.

Tissembaum and Smith have played doubles together for a long time at McCallum. When Tissembaum heard about the tournament, she knew that she wanted to compete in the doubles draw and asked Smith if she would play with her. Smith agreed and the two seniors began training together.

In this video, we followed Tissembaum and Smith’s journey to playing in the tournament, from their initial decision to compete to their match in the tournament against UT Austin tennis players.