Tennis is much more difficult than it looks

The IHSAA had its tennis state tournament last week.

Carmel, the No. 1 team in the state and two-time defending state champions, made it three in a row by defeating tournament host and third-ranked North Central on Saturday, 3-2. 

On Monday, nearly 83 miles northeast of where the Greyhounds and Panthers battled, there was one more tennis match of the fall sports season.

And only one person was there to see it; most of it, anyway.

A chilly and windy afternoon didn’t make for the greatest tennis match between myself and Jay County High School senior Xavier Ninde, but it needed to be played in my quest to see how I stack up against the athletes half my age who I get to write about on a daily basis.

Tennis, as I quickly discovered, is much harder than it looks.

It’s extremely frustrating, too, perhaps even the most puzzling of the four sports — baseball, soccer, wrestling and now tennis — I’ve attempted in recent years.

Ninde was already awaiting my arrival at the tennis courts with a bag full of tennis balls and an extra racket for me to use.

“Have you ever played tennis before,” he asked as he got out of his vehicle.

“It’s been about 20 years,” I replied, on my birthday, reminiscing of the few times as a teenager during the summer my friends and I would play (poorly) at a park by my former high school. It was a good way to kill time, stay out of trouble and mess around.

Monday, however, there was no time to mess around. At least that’s how I approached the match. I’m competitive, I hate to lose and I wanted to beat Ninde. I’d wanted to think he wasn’t going to take it easy on me. We’ll get to that a little later.

After volleying for a little bit — me (unintentionally) using the entire width of the court — I had to get a few serves in before beginning the match.

The first one was a solid serve. The second hit the net and the third was acceptable, but nothing of which to be proud.

Since I was the challenger, I let Ninde serve first. 

After the first point, JCHS boys tennis coach Scott Miller arrived to watch. To stay warm, he chased balls for us throughout the first set.

I got off to a good start, as unforced Ninde errors gave me the first game.

This won’t be too bad, I thought.

I forgot I had to serve.

Making two of my three practice serves might have gotten me a little overconfident, because not once did I win a game in which I had the serve. I can almost guarantee I double-faulted more times than Ninde earned points on my serve.

I knew it was going to be the most difficult part of my game, and after the match Ninde confirmed it is one of the hardest parts of the game.

I discovered much earlier, however, it’s not even easy to place the tennis ball within the 39-foot-by-27-foot rectangle on the other side of the net.

There were a number of shots, whether forehand or backhand — when the latter didn’t slice too much — I had attacks look good and feel good until I noticed they were too strong.

More often than not my return shots to Ninde sailed long. I had a tendency to put too much power behind my attacks and sent the ball deep into the fence behind my opponent.

That is, at least, when I was able to actually return Ninde’s serves.

Remember when I said I hoped Ninde would give me his all and not take me lightly?

He didn’t.

If I had to guess, the senior had more aces Monday than he had in his career. He was lethal at dropping a serve short while I stayed back on the baseline, or powering a serve as I moved toward the net to play the soft one.

I lost the first set, 6-2. Having had enough of the cold, Miller left.

Then I dropped the first four games of the second set. Still, serving killed me.

I was getting better, though. We had a few points that required multiple volleys, and in that fifth game I was determined to break his serve so I didn’t have to double-fault my way into losing the match.

I got a little bit of offense going in the fifth game, and we had deuce twice. Somehow I managed to break his serve, win the game and trail 4-1.

Double faults and a few long attacks on my part gave Ninde the 5-1 advantage, and he put the match away quickly in the seventh game.

“You put up a good fight,” he said.

It’s the only way I know how to play. I knew I was going to lose. However, maybe, just maybe, I could surprise Ninde and make it closer than he expected.

I think I accomplished my goal.

I had a revelation, too. Baseball players, wrestlers and soccer players make their respective sports appear much easier than they actually are.

Tennis is the same way.

As I continue comparing my athletic prowess against the teenagers I cover, one thing is certain: it won’t be easy.

But despite the losses or struggles, I guarantee it will be fun.