Every day before a meet, Jack Murphy has one thing on his mind: Winning. The young freshman has not lost one match he’s been in this season and his coach predicts he can go undefeated throughout his entire high school career.
“He’s been working me really hard this year to go undefeated,” Murphy said.
And thus this year’s tennis team is off to a hot start. Much of this is due to the rising tennis star, Murphy.
So far, Murphy’s skills have been unmatched on the tennis court, and he has gone undefeated with a 6-0 record. Murphy has accomplished this through his strong work ethic.
“I pretty much hit every day, and work as much as I can.” This work ethic follows Murphy from the court to the classroom.
A freshman in the IB program, Murphy is a model student maintaining a 4.2 weighted grade point average receiving all A’s and just one B for the semester. Balancing athletics and academics is essential.
“I have to get my stuff done. I have to prioritize everything and school has to come first. We established that seven years ago,” Murphy said.
He started playing tennis seven years ago. After trying baseball and soccer, he didn’t show a passion for either one, so he tried tennis.
“We tried the whole baseball thing and my mom wasn’t happy with it. And then I tried soccer, but it wasn’t my thing. So finally, I had played tennis at Northdale and I liked it a lot so I just played more and more until I developed into the player I am today.”
Murphy also uses his love for the sport to help others. During the summer, Murphy takes time to teach little kids to play tennis in Avila.
Murphy hopes to continue playing tennis past high school and through college.
“My goal is to be a Division I tennis player in college.” His dream is to play for Stanford.
In addition to teaching tennis and playing at school, Murphy also plays for the United States Tennis Association. Playing against some of the best in the state keeps Murphy on his toes.
As of right now, he is ranked 65th in the state, and is working diligently on a national ranking.