Greenwood freshman enjoying early success

<p><strong>T</strong>here are plenty of girls tennis players that are more athletic than Sophia Davidson. That doesn’t mean they can beat her.</p><p>The Greenwood freshman has been nothing short of dominant at No. 1 singles thus far in her young high school career, and it’s been a preternatural feel for the game that has separated her from the pack.</p><p>“It’s a special skill set,” Greenwood coach Jeremy Runge said. “She’s not the quickest kid, but every point she plays, it’s smart, it’s consistent. It’s everything you want in a tennis player.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>“She’s very, very mature in the tennis world. She understands when to pull the trigger, when to not, all that good stuff.”</p><p>Davidson has used that knowledge of the game to great advantage this spring. She topped Roncalli junior Emma Hess, a two-time individual sectional champion, in her debut by a 7-5, 6-0 count, and she has steamrolled most of her competition since, winning each of her next 20 sets by scores of either 6-0 or 6-1.</p><p>She missed two weeks in April with the flu, including the Woodmen’s county semifinal loss to Center Grove, but returned to action at the Mid-State Conference tournament, where she won her first two matches without dropping a game before finally getting tested against fellow unbeaten Jordyn Pax of Plainfield in the final.</p><p>Davidson passed the test with flying colors, earning a 7-5, 6-4 victory to improve to her record to 12-0 going into today’s match with Bloomington North.</p><p>A year-round player for the last six years, attributes her success to the ability — some of it natural, some of it learned — to stay one step ahead of her opponent.</p><p>“I have a really good sense of the court; that’s one of the biggest parts of my game,” she said. “I get to the ball the majority of the time, because I can just predict it really well. That’s always something I’ve been good at, so that’s how I get to more balls than most people.”</p><p>Most of her summer tournament experience on the USTA circuit pits her against players her own age, but Davidson says she hasn’t gotten intimidated going up against older players during the high school season.</p><p>Part of that is because at about 5-foot-8, she’s taller than many of the girls she plays.</p><p>“It’s kind of funny,” Davidson said, “because a lot of the girls are a lot smaller, so it’s like some of them, they look like they’re sophomores or freshmen, and they’re really seniors.”</p><p>And while Greenwood’s young team hasn’t enjoyed the same success across the board that Davidson has so far, Runge believes that her presence has helped lift the level of play through the entire lineup.</p><p>All but one player in the Woodmen’s current top seven, which includes two other freshmen in Tori Graber and Marissa Linville, will be back next season — so the coach is hopeful that the payoff is coming.</p><p>“I think it’s really good, at practice, just for the girls to see that,” Runge said of Davidson. “They’re hitting with her; to me, it’s making everybody a lot better.”</p><p>In the short term, Davidson is gearing up for what could be a deep tournament run as an individual. She’s beaten everyone she’s faced in the area and seems eager to test herself against the rest of the state’s best.</p><p>Runge is confident that even if she can’t go all the way in her first go-around, Davidson will make her presence felt at some point before she graduates.</p><p>“I definitely think she’ll make a run for state,” he said. “I don’t know if it’ll be this year; obviously we’ll see how everything goes, draws and all that good stuff. But I think she has a lot of potential to get there.</p><p>“The big thing for her will be quickness. If she gets a lot quicker, I think she’ll be really, really dangerous. So I’m looking forward to the next four years for sure.”</p>