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Smith’s Horatio Alger Story 7/14/2003
Smith’s Horatio Alger Story To say the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team had a turnaround this season would be the understatement of the year. To say junior Lewis Smith had something to do with that turnaround would be a close second. In fact, Smith’s play the past two seasons is a microcosm of the program. As a sophomore during the 2001-2002 campaign, Smith not experienced the “Sophomore Slump”, he lived it. Smith struggled to a 12-16 record in singles and by year’s end he had played himself out of the top six on the team. By the end of the season, Smith contemplated hanging it up. “We were getting our butts kicked pretty badly, and losing a lot of the close matches, I was a major part of that,” Smith recalled recently of his sophomore year. “It was a pretty terrible feeling, and I really didn’t want to go through that again.” “He was just tired of losing, said he didn’t want to do it anymore,” Head Coach Ken Flach remembered. “I encouraged him to hang in there, because he has so much raw talent and he’s such a good athlete.” What makes the story of Lewis Smith a remarkable one is that not only did he return, the Memphis native came back stronger than ever. Just a year removed from that disastrous season, Smith finished his junior season with a 27-10 record. His magical comeback season did not finally conclude until last month in Georgia when he was the last Commodore standing in the finals of the NCAA team tournament. Playing at No.6 singles, Smith battled his Illinois opponent to three sets, only to fall just short, losing 4-6, 6-4, 4-6. Improbably, Smith had gone from almost quitting the team to playing a nip-and-tuck match with the NCAA title on the line. Indicative of the maturity he showed in bouncing back from his sophomore year, Smith said he tried to treat that match just like any other. “I just tried to stay focused and keep everything in perspective, just hit one ball at a time,” Smith said. “If I had started thinking about it being the NCAA finals, it would have gone right down the drain.” “Anybody that saw him play two years ago, even one year ago, is just amazed at how complete a player he is,” Flach said, adding that because Smith was also an all-star basketball player in high school, his time for tennis was limited at certain times of the year. “Every year, there were five months where Lewis missed out on tennis. He didn’t even pick up a racket,” Vanderbilt’s fifth-year coach said. “So, this year, there were many times when I watched Lewis play and I was just so pleased and so proud of what he has been able to accomplish.” Smith’s nail-biting title-deciding singles match was indicative of the team’s final competition, as the Fighting Illini edged Vanderbilt, 4-3, to win the NCAA title. Astonishingly, after finishing last in the SEC in 2002, Vanderbilt finished 2003 as SEC Champions and NCAA Runner-Up. Talking about the turnarounds by Smith and the team, Flach could not help but draw the comparison. “You look at Lewis’s year last year and then this year, and it was synonymous with our team this season,” Vanderbilt’s Coach of the Year said. Smith credits his turnaround to a renewed commitment he made to the sport at the end of last season. He vowed to work harder than he ever had before and be open to the changes in his game Coach Flach would demand. “I thought I had been working hard, but I really had not. It took me two years to catch on, but I finally did,” Smith recalled of his decision to stay last year and what he would have to do to succeed. “Being around Bobby (Reynolds), Chad (Harris) and Zack (Dailey), I saw how much time they put in to get where they are, that showed me what I needed to be doing.” “Lewis just needed to put in the time and he had to trust me to make some changes in his game,” Flach added. “Lewis is very athletic, but he didn’t have the ability to just hang back and rally, be a ground-stroker. He would rely on his athletic ability to get to the net and basically intimidate his opponent. Once he got his strokes to come around, he really started to improve quickly.” Late last summer, the changes began to take form. Smith began to believe he could win with different approaches to his game. “In years past, the best thing I had going for me was that I could move decently. If it was working, I would do well. If it wasn’t, I was down the drain,” Smith admitted. “Up until last summer, I didn’t have any ground strokes to speak of. I think that’s the biggest thing coach has helped me with the last year. Learning how to win consistently, if the serve–and–volley is not working that well.” As Flach looks to the Smith’s upcoming senior season, he fully believes Smith is capable of even greater things. “I told him that I believed he can be not only a doubles All-American, but a singles All-American as well,” Flach said. “I really believe that. If he works hard this summer, he will make another huge jump. He could just take off and play in the top three next year for us.” If Smith does make that next jump, Vanderbilt fans can only hope that he continues to epitomize the Commodore program, as he did this past season. If that happens, Vanderbilt just may find itself NCAA champions. |
