Boyd steps up as Pentucket's No. 1
Last year, Jeff Boyd was arguably the best No. 2 singles tennis player in Pentucket Regional history. He was unbeaten, but he was playing behind Jeff "The Best Player in Pentucket Tennis History" Beaton.
It was a motivator, he said.
"You could be playing someone the day before and win," Boyd said, "but then you'd go back to practice and Jeff would sort of just wipe the court with you. So you always know you have to work harder to get better."
Knowing that he would inherit that No. 1 spot this spring, Boyd was on the tennis courts almost every day over the summer, helping his New Hampshire-based US Tennis Association team make a push for the national tournament in Tucson.
"I think I've gained a lot more experience playing a lot more matches against a lot more different types of players."
That experience is what allows the senior to coolly look through his mental file cabinet and come up with the perfect plan for any situation.
Take, for example, his two battles this season against Masconomet Regional's top player, Chris Hakusui. They had met each other once before as juniors when they were both No. 2s, so Boyd filed that away. They met again in early April, and Boyd survived a tight match. He noticed that Hakusui's serve was massive, which made him "more comfortable."
By the time they met again two weekends ago in the Cape Ann League tournament, Boyd had Hakusui figured out.
"My plan," Boyd said, "was to get all his serves back and try to break them as best as I could."
He won, 8-1, in an eight-game pro set.
The biggest improvement Boyd has made since last year is in the mind game.
"He had the strokes," said Pentucket's first-year coach, Christian Langlois. "But the biggest thing is, mentally he's so tough now. He doesn't get rattled, he doesn't lose focus, and he keeps the aggressiveness going so that he doesn't have any letdowns to let anybody back into a match."
The state individual tournaments start May 10 and the North is stacked, from Marblehead and St. John's Prep to Concord-Carlisle and the beasts of the Dual County League.
"You're not going to be lucky," Langlois said. "You're going to have to earn it. I think he can do it."
