SLU High senior Abraham Souza has signed a letter of intent
to play tennis at University of Illinois. Also, he's No.
1 in the Missouri Valley regional tennis rankings.
But, his climb has been anything but smooth.
He started playing tennis at age 7. But, at 9, he quit
playing for two years. "I got sick of it and didn't think
I was making any progress," he said.
Seventeen-year-old Abe said, "I don't do sports to dink
around. I'm a one-sport person and only play to become the
best."
He said after his first start in tennis, he shifted to
soccer. He decided he wanted to play pro soccer, instead
of pro tennis.
But, when he was 11, a friend, Tommy Grady, was starting
tennis lessons and wanted Abe to join him. "I fell in love
with tennis again," he said.
Even after resuming tennis, Abe wasn't satisfied. "But,
when I was 13 or 14, I really got serious," he said.
He started to practice four days a week year around. And,
he played a lot of tournaments during the summer.
By the time he was 16, he had earned his first No. 1 ranking
in the five-state Missouri Valley region. "I finally broke
through to another level," he said.
Again, there was a lull in his progress.
Then, last spring, the SLU tennis team won the Missouri
state tournament. Abe and his partner won the doubles title
and Abe finished second in singles. But, he said he was
disappointed with his second place finish.
After the high school season finished, his game elevated
to another level.
He earned the top ranking in the 18-and-under boys in the
Missouri Valley. He also won first in the Missouri Valley's
big Sweet 16 tournament.
"When I won that, I gave a big sigh of relief. That's
because I beat players who had given me trouble as late
as last spring," he said.
Abe and Austen Kauss of Overland Park, Kan., won the National
Clay Court tournament's 18-and-under doubles title. He finished
fifth in singles in the same meet.
In November, Abe signed a letter of intent to play tennis
at the University of Illinois. The Illini are a national
college tennis power.
Abe said he considers his signing with Illinois to be his
best moment in tennis. "If you get to play at Illinois,
you're almost guaranteed at least a chance to play pro tennis,"
he said.
When he started tennis at age 7 that was his goal. But,
he quit then and, even after he restarted, he went through
low points. "I had another point at age 15 when I didn't
think it was coming together," he said.
He said the mental aspects of tennis are more difficult
than the physical. "When you play tournaments, you have
to project the idea of your superiority. After awhile, that
can get tiring," he said.
Abe has set some lofty future goals for his tennis.
"I want to be ranked in the top 100 in the world by the
time I'm 23. Then, I want to win Wimbledon by the time I'm
26," he said.
You can see he's "really serious" about tennis by looking
at his current practice schedule. It's up to six days a
week now.
That includes a 2-hour clinic with his tennis coach on
Monday; "hitting with four or five real good adult players"
for 2 hours on Tuesday and Thursday; practice with his coach
on Wednesday; "hitting two times on Saturday" with his coach
and on Sunday he has another session with top-notch adult
players.
"I take Fridays off," he said.
But, his conditioning continues non-stop, including exercises
and stretching every day.
Since restarting tennis at age 11, Abe has had the same
coach, Carl Walker. A former pro at the Dwight Davis Tennis
Club in Forest Park, Mr. Walker is a full-time teaching
pro.
Abe said, "He's a master at teaching technique. When you
play, it's easy to pick up bad habits. But, he can spot
them right away."
His 2007 tennis schedule starts off with two "mini-national"
meets in January, one in Columbus, Ohio, and one in Cincinnati.
There's a "Super Nationals" meet in February in Mobile,
Ala.
The tennis season then shifts to high school competition.
Abe hopes to rectify that second place finish in singles
at last spring's state finals.
Then, he's scheduled to play in "a few pro tournaments"
in the summer. He can't accept any prize money because of
his upcoming college tennis. "But, I'll try to get some
national ranking," he said.
