"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." This passage from the Parable of the Faithful Servant (Luke 12:48) has been echoed, wittingly or otherwise, throughout the ages. For one young man living abroad, such sentiments are certainly relatable. Kanak Jha, the four-time US men's singles national champion and two-time Olympian, has packed a lot of living into his 21 years. Now a full-time professional playing in the extremely competitive German Bundesliga, Jha has seen his share of ups and downs. His last season playing for the Ochsenhausen club was nothing to write home about. This season, however, is shaping up to be a very different story. The major change for Ochsenhausen has been the defection of world #8 Hugo Calderano of Brazil to the Russian Champion's League. This has bumped France's world #18 Simon Gauzy to the captain's chair. Next up in the string of succession, the world #30 Jha ascends to the second spot, a position known as the anchor. When two three-man teams compete, only the anchors play two singles matches, while everyone else plays one match in singles and one in doubles. The first week started well, as Jha split his matches in a 3-2 win over TSV Bad Konigshofen. This week, Jha faced two more tough opponents from Saarbrücken. First, he overcame world #140 Tomas Polansky of the Czech Republic. Tied at two games apiece, Jha dominated the fifth game, 10-6. Later, Jha took on world #25 Darko Jorgic of Slovenia. Once again, the match went the distance, and once again, Jha shone brightest when it mattered most. Serving at match point, 10-5, Jha stepped around for a forehand loop kill down the line that Jorgic could only look at wistfully. Incidentally, a much more familiar retelling of Luke's Parable of the Faithful Servant was heard in the 2002 film, "Spiderman." Peter Parker's Uncle Ben famously warns the adolescent arachnid: "With great power comes great responsibility." Certainly, much has been given to Kanak Jha, and in turn much is demanded of him. Luckily for Ochsenhausen, he is a most faithful servant.

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