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Blaine boys tennis senior captains A.J. Fedor and Peter Andrews
A.J. Fedor
Start in tennis
“I started youth tennis right around the age of 4 or 5. My parents both played tennis and my dad is a coach, so as I grew up around it I was always interested in playing.”
Singles or doubles
“I would pick doubles. I have always enjoyed coming to the net and being able to win points with volleys.”
Favorite type of shot
“Overheads, because it always feels great to be able to smash the ball as hard as you can and have the opponent not be able to return it.”
Enjoy most about team
“My favorite part about our team is the kids we have. We have always had a welcoming and fun atmosphere on the team that I enjoy being around, and it has lead to a lot of friendships.”
Biggest challenge
“The toughest part of tennis is the mental side of the game, because it’s a sport where you have to be able to adapt quickly and be able to shake off the misses and lost points and move onto the next point, even if it’s hard to get over the last one.”
Pre-match routine
“My pre-match routine varies some, but it always includes me listening to Party in the USA before because it’s always a funny song that can take my mind off of the match ahead of me.”
Top Blaine tennis memory
“My favorite memory from Blaine Tennis was our trip up to Duluth last year and all the time I got to spend with the team on the trip and all the funny conversations on the long ride.”
Peter Andrews
Start in tennis
“I started playing tennis seriously around sixth grade — that’s my first memory of tennis anyway! I think I mostly got into the sport because I had played basketball up to that point and things weren’t going well (I am not good at basketball, to be clear). Tennis was sort of the only sport I hadn’t tried, so I gave it a shot!”
Singles or doubles
“I definitely prefer singles. Just needing to rely on a partner makes me nervous, and I don’t like letting a partner down when I make mistakes. Playing singles, the only person I feel I can let down is myself.”
Favorite type of shot
“My favorite shot is a baseline overhead. It’s a satisfying shot and your opponent usually isn’t expecting it!”
Enjoy most about team
“I enjoy how supportive this team is. When someone makes a good shot, we let each other know. When we make an easily fixable mistake, we help each other correct it. We keep each other accountable and have so much fun along the way.”
Biggest challenge
“Playing tennis means learning an entirely new headspace to live with. Especially in a match, there’s almost a different persona that you need to embrace in order to stay focused on the right things. And that persona could be completely different from how you play when you’re practicing! The most challenging thing is learning how to interact with yourself in a match setting, and that’s really the difference between a winning and losing player.”
Pre-match routine
“I wouldn’t call this a pre-match routine, but I can only hit with my racket a certain way. The words on one side of the throat need to be down and the words on the other side need to be up. If I catch it the other way around, I have to switch it back before I can keep playing.”
Top Blaine tennis memory
“My sophomore year, we played a tournament in Virginia, Minnesota that got severely delayed over the course of the day. We didn’t leave from Virginia for Blaine until midnight, and we didn’t get home until 2:30 in the morning; I can say it was quite the bus ride home!”
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