Andy Lee of Oak Ridge sees tennis title hopes dashed by champion
Oak Ridge High School’s Andy Lee faced the biggest challenge of his high school career last Thursday in the TSSAA singles tennis state tourney in Murfreesboro.
His opponent was Ranjay Arul, a junior at Collierville High School, located just east of Memphis.
Arul was the 2021 TSSAA defending singles champion, and was responsible for two of Collierville’s three points in his team’s losing effort against Ravenwood in TSSAA’s 2021 team tennis tourney.
Lee was a good opponent for Arul, who won the 9 a.m. match at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro.
Arul would go on to win his second-consecutive singles title for Collierville.
His opponent’s credentials may have pushed Lee into the underdog role in this year’s quarterfinal match, “But I don’t think Andy will mind once the competition begins,” Oak Ridge co-head tennis coach David Bowman said before Thursday’s match.
Lee had a stellar career as a junior on the USTA circuit with Top 10 rankings in the 12/14/16 and under age groups. He gave up the rigorous training and USTA travel every weekend when COVID hit, but his skills learned in elementary and middle school never left, taking him to the top in East Tennessee high school tennis.
“I believe Andy will relish the role of being the player with nothing to lose,” Bowman said. “He is very analytical and constructs his points carefully, with purpose at each strike of the ball. His patience often wins him the point when opponents tire of returning Andy’s sharply angled groundstrokes.”
Bowman said Lee also is willing to throw in a sneak attack designed to unsettle opponents and rush them into mistakes.
“Andy’s serve and ‘half-volley’ tactics remind me of Roger Federer’s ability to change match strategies to fit the situation over the past few years,” he said.
“Roger has lost a bit of quickness, but his coming to the net shrinks the court and forces the issue for his opponents early in a point.
“I saw Andy do the same in his Region 2 final vs. Luke Prince from Central High School 7-5, 7-6 (5).”
Lee was captain of a Wildcat team with a cumulative 3.7 GPA.