Senior Tennis Spotlight: Tobias Kirkpatrick

Tobias Kirkpatrick, a senior tennis player, shares his story in tennis and some of his favorite things to do in his free time.
by Dairion Peters

Tobias Kirkpatrick, a senior tennis player, shares his story in tennis and some of his favorite things to do in his free time.

Tobias started playing tennis back in his freshman year of high school. He stated, “I started playing freshman year, my friend Preston got me into it. I got the hang of the fundamentals early on, mainly because I wanted to keep up with the team.” 

What kept pushing Toby was wanting to keep up, even knowing his flaws were persistent. “One of my main flaws is consistency in my long rallies. When I have games before I step on the court my mindset is to try to not get in my own head and [trip] myself out. I just tell myself to play my own game.” he says, even though he looks up to a number of different players even until this day. Toby explained, “Roger Federer, Carlos Alcaraz, and Rafael Nadal are some of my biggest inspirations.” 

On the other hand, even when Tobias is not competing, he is still on the tennis court. He stated, “Even when I’m off the court, I spend a lot of time playing tennis with friends. It’s good practice and it’s fun, man.” 

Tobias plans to attend a tennis camp this summer, since that is where he gets to play the most. And tennis is a very fun pastime for him, but doesn’t quite know if he should go to college. What he does know is that if you're an aspiring tennis player, “Don’t be emotional. Just be a leading example for others around you. Also have fun. That’s the most important part of a sport.”