Connor's Second High School Tennis Match - Junior Year vs Camden County

 

Connor had his second tennis match of the season this past week vs Camden County, from Georgia. The boys all played well during the match and Connor won on line two doubles with Hunter. Hunter's a very tall senior that has a great serve and is intimidating at the net. They won the doubles match handily and then Connor had a long break before he played line three singles. 

Connor played against a young guy that was a bit shorter than most highschoolers. Connor decided at some point that he should dropshot to the kid's backhand and then try to lob him. The strategy wasn't what we would have recommended, and it seemed like Connor really had to work hard to put the points away when he got himself in to the situations of his own design. Both Connor and his opponent would end up placing tough shots all over the court, and they had to run a lot. 

Neither opponent wanted to hit with pace and there were only a few moments where Connor swung freely at the ball. For the most part it was a slow chess game of a match, and in the end Connor did with the match 6-1, 6-1. So, I guess he did know what he was doing, based on the score. 

The big change in this match was Connor's intensity. He's usually a fairly chill kid, even when he's getting frustrated during a match. When he and I play ping pong, sometimes Connor will get pumped and will yell "Come on!" after a good point, but he never does it at tennis until this last match. Connor shouted after he hit good shots, and he got pumped as the match went on. His teammates had all finished their matches and watched from the fence, cheering him on. Connor's opponent seemed to get annoyed by it, and I heard some of his opponent's teammates conversing nearby and they also commented on the fact that Connor was getting to him. 

After the match, Connor came to the net to shake hands, but his opponent tapped racquet instead. As Connor walked away his opponent called him a couple of bad names. It's unfortunate that it ended that way, but we were proud of Connor for hustling and playing hard during the match. It wasn't a pretty win, but it was a win, and he found a way to make it happen.