Gregg Strange of New Port Richey entered his first tennis tournament at 12. Strange continued playing, but limited his tournament play until recently. Now hoping to earn a college scholarship, Strange, 17, entered his second tournament since moving into the 18-and-under division.
"I had played him in practice some before, but hadn't competed against him in a tournament," Strange said of Seminole's Daichi Murata. "I did okay in the final but he's played a lot more and beat me in two sets."
When Strange faces an opponent, he tries to determine any weaknesses during the warmup or in the first few games of the match. Then he tries to play aggressively and prefers the baseline unless forced to approach the net.
"I'm mostly a power hitter and like to try to run them off the court," Strange said. "I like to keep them moving and feel most comfortable at the baseline.
"My serve is pretty powerful and has a good spin. It kicks high and away and can give them trouble when it's working well."
Strange mostly has competed with the Mitchell High team where the junior reached the district final this year in the No. 1 slot. In his first two years, Strange won the No. 1 district title and as a freshman advanced to state in No. 1 doubles.
"Our team finished third in districts this year, second last year and was first my freshman year," Strange said. "Next year, we could do pretty well in the district and might even have a chance at winning."
Now that Strange is about to begin his final year of high school, he hopes to play well enough to earn a tennis scholarship to a school in Florida, though he is open to out-of-state interest.
For the past three months, Strange has taken lessons twice a week from Colin Hill, a former college player and teaching professional.
"We've been making minor changes in Gregg's game, but mostly we're trying to build strategy," Hill said. "Bringing everything together seems to be lacking in a lot of 17-year-old players. It's great to hit forehands and backhands and to serve well, but you need to realize that you can't hit a winner off every shot and need to be able to put together a rally with some strategy. You have to hit with a reason. Gregg is a coachable player and can definitely contribute to some college's tennis team."
Strange plans to continue his twice weekly lessons wih Hill, play regular practice matches and enter more tournaments in hopes of achieving recognition by a college. No matter where tennis may take Strange, he says tennis always will be a part of what he does for recreation.
ADULT LEAGUE PLAYOFFS: Last weekend's playoffs completed the list of the local district championship teams in the USA Tennis Florida's Adult League Tennis. The Renaissance Vinoy defeated Feather Sound Country Club 3-2 to capture the women's 3.5 district title. The Racquet Club of St. Petersburg won its third match with a 3-2 win over East Lake Woodlands to clinch the men's 3.5. District winners advance to the west region playoffs in Naples next month with hopes of advancing to the state tournament in August.
NET SHOTS: Mitch Rosen in the boys 14-and-under and his brother, Scott, in the 12 were among singles winners in this month's Hunter's Green Country Club Rookie event. Finalists included Sarah Erikson in the 14 and Rachel Adler the 12. Consolation winners included Stephanie Miller (10) and Trevor Baizan (10).
Winners in the Seminole Summer Classic included Laura Gioia in the 18, Joseph Valdes in 12 and top seed Dilip Kamath in 16. Placing second were Christin Bensinger in the 16 and Lisa Hernandez in the 12. Rachael James-Baker won the 14 consolation draw, as did Racquel Hylton in the 16.
District winners in the Pasco-Pinellas adult mixed doubles league were Feather Sound Country in the 7.0, Royal Racquet Club 8.0 and McMullen of Clearwater 9.0. Teams advance to state in October.
Among the juniors preparing for this weekend's Florida Bush Open, the summer's national kickoff event, are Brooke Allen, Zoe Kent and Alexis Kreplick in the girls 18; Alexis Dorr in the 16; Shaun Young, Alex Vuckovic and Clint Bowles in the boys 18; Brendan and Kimble McKay, Justin Herzig and Jeff Dadamo in the 16. The singles and doubles event is held in Ft. Myers.
COMING UP: Junior singles players should register today for this weekend's Clearwater Summer Classic at the McMullen Tennis Center. Call (727) 669-1919. ... The Temple Terrace Junior Summer Bash is July 3-5 at the Temple Terrace Tennis Center. Call Manny Mariani, (813) 989-7178, before the June 30 deadline.
- News for this column may be faxed to Nancy Morgan, 727 796-5559; e-mailed to namorgan46@msn.com or sent to 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. Please include phone number.
