Blacksburg High School’s Frank Thompson won Friday’s Class 4 individual state tennis championship.
Class 4 has a new king of tennis, and it’s Frank Thompson of Blacksburg High School.
The ninth-grader downed Hanover’s Tanner Cole 6-1, 6-0 at Roanoke College on Friday for the title. His only loss this season was to Western Albemarle’s Gavin Segraves as he finished the year 25-1.
“Obviously it was awesome (to win a state title), and to be mentioned in the same group of great players that won it before me is special,” he said Monday.
He is the first area freshman to win a state crown in 10 years, but he didn’t seem to feel the pressure that most underclassmen might have felt.
“I have been under pressure in other circumstances and tournaments so there wasn’t really much pressure on me. Yes, most of the others I played were juniors and seniors, but I was able to play with them,” Thompson said.
Competitively he started playing when he was six or seven years old, but the racket was in his hand a little before that at the age of four.
He plays on the national junior circuit where he is ranked 53rd amongst other freshmen. Thompson estimates he plays 25-30 tournaments a year.
Of course, when Thompson sits down at the dinner table, he might receive some expert advice from his father, who is the men’s tennis head coach at Virginia Tech.
“It’s good to have someone around like him. When we sit down after a match, we’re able to break it down and determine what happened,” the new state champion said.
In looking at his own weaknesses and strengths, Thompson points to his aggressive style of play that no one has been able to defend at the high school level. He plans to work on pressure points this summer to make him even stronger for another run to state next year.
There was no rest for the weary just three days after winning an individual title, as Thompson is busy this week helping with tennis camps at Virginia Tech.
