“I realized how much I liked tennis and I got back into it,” said Sullivan, who catapulted to the team’s No. 1 position and helped Spanish River take second in the Class 4A state competition by winning the singles title with a 6-3; 7-6(4) victory over Winter Park’s Ninan Kumar. He also won a prestigious Level 4 event in Daytona Beach prior to the high school season that gave him added confidence.
“Over the summer I went to Pro World Tennis Academy in Delray Beach and trained with the coaches there, and it really helped my game a lot,” said Sullivan, who finished the season 23-1. He’s currently ranked 20th in the state in Boys 18s. “I started playing in state junior tournaments and kept training.”
Coming into the season, Sullivan wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I thought we would make it to states, but I didn’t think we would be anywhere close to where we finished at state,” Sullivan said. “I had hoped for a win or two at state, but I didn’t think I would win a state championship. I knew there were great players there and I just played out of my mind.”
Spanish River coach Beth Miller said Sullivan’s conditioning was a major factor in his play this year.
“He made an immense improvement,” Miller said. “Charlie played a lot of USTA tournaments last summer and his stock rose tremendously. He looked much quicker and he was getting to the ball much faster. He ran everything down and he really wasn’t doing that last year. He was a leader finally this year. He matured a little bit and we have another year with him so I am expecting bigger and better things out of him next year.”
ProWorld US Tennis Blog 