PATIENCE HAS PAID OFF FOR FRESHMAN JACK DAVIS

By Kimberlie Haner

By Washington Huskies

February 12^th, 2018

From an early age, freshman Jack Davis found a passion for tennis. Now he is finally playing in dual matches for Washington men’s tennis, something he has been looking forward to for a long time.

Davis’ tennis career began when he was 5 years old when he would follow his mom to her lessons in Toronto, Canada. His mom, who grew up playing tennis but ultimately became a collegiate swimmer, took lessons to continue playing. Slowly, Davis began taking up part of her lessons.

PATIENCE HAS PAID OFF FOR FRESHMAN JACK DAVIS

“I started slowly making my way onto the court,” Davis said. “I stole one of her racquets and I would take 10 minutes of her lesson, then 20 minutes, then we were splitting a lesson. Finally, she said I was getting my own lessons so I wouldn’t mooch off of her time anymore.”

His whole family is athletic. Davis’ two younger sisters both swim and play water polo. They played tennis growing up, but later committed to their water sports. Before solely sticking with tennis, Davis played football, basketball and baseball up until he was about 13.

Tennis in Canada is a smaller community than in the United States. Long before the University of Washington was on his radar, Davis made connections with future Husky tennis players through Tennis Canada. While in Toronto, he met and played with two players on the UW women’s tennis team, Vanessa Wong and Katarina Kopcalic. When his family moved to Vancouver B.C. when he was 11 years old, he played with Stacey Fung and Alexis Prokopuik a few times.

“I knew all of the Canadian girls that are here (at UW),” Davis said. “I’ve practiced with all four of them and they all used to beat me super bad. They are good players, so they aren’t the worst people to lose to.”

Vancouver is where Davis first met the Washington coaches, Matt Anger and Chris Russell. When it came time to look at colleges, he was interested in UW from the start due to its location, academics and tennis program. After narrowing it down to five schools, he chose Washington in February of his junior year of high school.

“Once I committed and got it out of the way, I started playing a lot better,” Davis said. “I was less nervous and I had something to look forward to. I think that’s the best part about college tennis; getting to come and play four more years and seeing where that takes you.”

The coaches were another key part of Davis committing to the Huskies. The experience and knowledge that Anger and Russell have were perfect for Davis. Additionally, their coaching style was the exact fit for the freshman.

“They are strict, but not mean, which his perfect for me,” Davis said. “I need someone to tell me what I need to do, but I like to have a good relationship with my coach. I’m so happy with what I’ve picked. I love getting coached by both of them and I think I’ve improved a lot already.”

A lot of Davis’ success in tennis can be attributed to his coach Oded Jacob at the Tennis Canada Federation. After coming to Vancouver from Israel, he revolutionized the tennis center there that previously did not have the best reputation. Because of Jacob’s hard work, Davis was able to train there and be where he is today.

“The discipline he brought every day is something I really admired,” Davis said. “He came in and whipped everyone into shape and made it an incredible training environment. I see a lot of similarities between him and coach Anger as well. I think that’s probably one of the biggest reasons I chose to come here.”

Transitioning to college life has treated Davis well so far. With so many new things to experience and learn, his biggest challenge has been time management.

“It has been a little hectic, a little crazy,” Davis said. “It all kind of hits you at once. You have all of these new things, new people and new places. You have to force yourself to put the time into everything you’re doing. But it has been good.”

In the fall season, Davis went 6-3 in singles and 4-4 in doubles. At the UCSB Classic, he went 3-1 and at the ITA Northwest Regionals, he advanced to the third round in singles. Overall, he feels like he could have done better, but he is happy with his performance.

“The biggest thing in the fall season for me was to be working on the things the coaches wanted me to be working on in my game,” Davis said. “I got some good wins and had a pretty good record, so I was happy with that. I think I’m improving and for the most part I did what they asked of me, so I can take that away from fall. I think the fall season is a good ice breaker for what’s to come in January.”

With the regular season well underway, Davis is a key member of the lineup. He has played at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spot in addition to teaming up with Jake Douglas in doubles. Aside from the excitement of playing, his favorite part about playing in the college scene is the atmosphere.

“To some extent, tennis is a very polite sport,” Davis said. “But in team matches, guys are fired up, playing for their schools. I grew up playing team sports, but then eventually chose tennis, which is often a very individual sport. I’ve missed that team aspect. It is really fun to be on a team with the guys and sharing that one goal to get better.”