Sophomore Nathan Law wins his number one singles match 2-0
After a long, video game-playing spring break, sophomore Nathan Law came on April 20 ready to play in the number one singles tennis match against Homestead player Ben Low. His powerful serves, smartly placed shots and incredible net play paired with his patience allowed him to push through and win both sets of his match.
Law, who usually plays number two singles, stepped up to the plate after junior Amreet Mohanty was forced to drop out of the match due to an arm injury. Although it was only the second time that Law had played as the number one singles, Coach Bruce Becker was completely confident in sending Law, with his 12-3-0 win-loss record, into the match and was ultimately pleased by his performance.
"It’s easy to talk about Nathan. He did outstanding today. He could have easily played number ones, and he probably could have this year, but we wanted him at playing at number two to secure a win every time," Becker said.
After a slow start to the first set, Law began to increase his intensity throughout the match to pull out a 7-6 victory over Low.
Towards the beginning of the set, Law found himself getting caught in the red, unable to deliver the smart shots he is capable of. This cost him the first two games; however, he was able to win the next. A powerful shot by Law that ricocheted off of Low’s racket and over the fence followed by a ball that rolled onto the court, delaying the game long enough for Law to regain his focus and win the game, putting him on the board 1-2.
Both players held serve for the next games. Two aces followed by a winner untouchable by Low ended the game quick with Law still behind a close 2-3. In the next game, even though Law was up 30-love, he kept going strong and finally won the game to tie the set up 3-3 by placing smart shots in the deep corners, making Low run and tire out.
After a high lob by Low, Law found himself in the perfect position to smack the ball down at the net to prevent any chance of return for Low. This winner put Law in the lead 4-3, and he was able to do it once again to win the following game.
Although frustrated after having lost the last two games to Low due to his own simple mistakes, he headed into the next game determine to finish off the set. He executed well with tactfully placed shots in deep corners of the court and won the game with a shut-out, not allowing Low to get on the board. Law finally won the set 7-6 with a tiebreaker score 7-5.
With the confidence from the victory of his first set, Law was victorious in the second set, easily winning the set 6-1.
Law won the first game of the set due to his key saves and aggresive net play. Although both players held serve for the next two games, that was the last time Low would score for Law dominated throughout the rest of the match.
He scored numerous impressive winners in addition to powerful aces, which allowed him to pull himself through his simple mistakes. He put himself up 4-1 with a winner precisely in the deep lefthand corner, which he slammed up at the net.
"[Low’s] mental [state] was not good towards the end of the match because he had just lost his first set 7-6. So, I hit the ball a lot harder to make him run and get a lot more tired than he already was, and that was what made him quit," Law said.
Law continued to place the ball smartly in deep corners of the court, which he realized were Low’s weakpoints. His powerful shots forced Low to hit the ball out of bounds, winning his game with a shut out scored of 40-love. Heading into his last game, Law allowed his aggressiveness to help him deliver powerful shots as well as serves, as he finished the set with a 6-1 victory.
It was confidence that allowed Law to finish off his last match of the season strong.
"I knew I could beat him, and I really wanted to win my match because this is pretty much what the whole season comes down to. But, since I was winning the whole time, I wasn’t worried at all," Law said.
Law ended the season with an impressive 13-3 record, as well as a determined attitude to perform just as well next season.
