Today’s Spring sports preview is the boys’ Coyote tennis team.
Last year’s boys’ squad finished 6-4. Coach Jason Williams believes the team will be competitive in every match this upcoming season. In addition to returning players, “I think our new players will continue to get better,” he said. The Coyotes’ top returning player is Tim Mosely, who won the district singles championship season before last. Other returners are Jason Long, the Wu brothers, Jason and James, Jordan Smith, and Daniel Ramirez.
Although Coach Williams’ primary goal is to win matches, he looks forward to his players’ improvement throughout the season. He also wants them to embrace tennis as a lifelong healthy activity. “Mostly winning, though,” he said.
What to know about high school tennis:
- Six singles matches, as well as three doubles matches, are played, for a total of nine separate matches.
- Teams who get to five wins first win the overall match. It can be a combination of singles and doubles.
- To win a game, players must win four points. Zero is called “love.” The first point is “15,” the second “30,” and the last “40.” Professional tennis matches also include “advantage,” meaning that a player must win by two points. However, in high school tennis, “advantage” is normally not played.
- Most teams agree to play the eight-game pro set instead of sets. In this setup, the first player who wins eight points wins the game. However, coaches can agree to play the best 2 of 3 sets, where the winner is the first to win six points as long as he/she wins by two. Otherwise, the game goes to a tie-breaker.
- Players referee themselves. No judges call the match like in professional tennis.
- Players must supply their own rackets and shoes.
- Teams are in the same districts as
- It’s harder than it looks on television, but it’s very fun to play!
