Not a bad way to start the season! We prevailed today with a 5-2 win over Breck, who, according to the Star Tribune, was the pre-season second-ranked team in the state.
Coach Novak had been stressing the UNimportance of this match, something that I definitely understand, but find it difficult to express. He wants us to realize that we are practicing for the end of the season, for the section tournament.
That being said, we knew this match was a great opportunity to jump-start our season. Personally, this was my first time playing singles in high school in two years, after playing #1 doubles all of last year.
Let me take a minute to explain how high school tennis works, for those who aren't familiar with the system. For each team match, a lineup of ten players is selected. Four players play singles, the top player playing #1 singles, down to #4. The other six players make up three doubles teams, from #1 doubles to #3. Each individual match is worth one point for the team's score. Therefore, every match is out of seven points, and a team must win four matches to earn a team win.
Now back to today. We knew our singles lineup would be strong, with Ryan at #1, followed by myself, Manny, and Andy Harris. We were confident in doubles too, but it's always tricky at the beginning of a season when everyone is trying to get accustomed to new partners.
Tennis is an individual sport, but you wouldn't know it if you came to a high school match. Just as matches begin to start, everyone is cheering on their teammates across the courts. During my matches, I obviously try to focus on my own match as much as possible, but I am usually aware of how my teammates are doing.
My match actually finished first; I won 6-1,6-1. Definitely a great start to my personal season. But it's all about the team. A parent actually said to me after I told her my result, "great, so you can relax now!" Quite the opposite, in fact. I was happy to have done my part, but now we needed to win three more matches to earn a team win, and the other matches are pretty much out of my control.
When I got off the court, I realized that everyone, except for Andy at #4, had won their opening sets. Manny was the next to come off, and it was good to see him and his opponent talking casually after Manny beat him. I like to say (actually came from Andre Agassi) that tennis is like boxing, where the mental combat replaces the physical combat.
In the meantime, all three doubles teams lost their second sets, and Andy won his, meaning we would have four matches heading to third and deciding sets. Ryan kept on battling and came back from 3-0 down in the second to win the set in a tiebreaker. Match score: Hopkins 3, Breck 0.
The score would seem to indicate our control of the match, but with all four remaining matches in third sets, we could lose, just as likely as winning 7-0. #3 doubles, Kenny Novak and Jeremy Steinman, went down 3-0 early in the third set, but fought back well to win and clinch the match for us. #2 (Brandon Rabinowitz, Andy Novak) won shortly afterwards, bringing the team score to Hopkins 5, Breck 0.
Andy Harris and #1 doubles (Zach Miller, Andrew Rust) continued to fight, but came up just short, both falling in their third sets. Final score: Hopkins 5, Breck 2.
As Coach Novak continues to tell us, results do not matter at this point in the season, but it was great to get this first win, especially with the doubles teams playing well and gaining some confidence. We've got a big test tomorrow, against another local private school: Blake.
Until then,
Michael
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