Thursday, December 21, 2017

Andrew McIntyre: He absolutely loves the flexibility of the league



Which league are you a member of?

How long have you participated in your league?
I joined TennisMinneapolis in the fall of 2015, when I moved to the Twin Cities from Los Angeles.

How did you first learn about it?
When I relocated to the Twin Cities, I was looking for tennis tournaments in the area, and it wasn't more than a few web searches before TennisMinneapolis came on my radar. I soon signed up for the September 2015 tournament. I played Austin Povilaitis in the first round of that tournament (beat him, although for the record he had beaten me several times since) and learned about TennisMinneapolis' seasonal leagues through Austin.

How often do you play?
I play as much as I can, which is often four or five times a week when the weather is nice.

What do you like most about the league?
The league has been a great way to meet so many great tennis players in the area, and to explore so many Twin Cities parks. The flexibility is also fantastic. It's a good fit for players wanting to play five matches or 20 matches in a season.

Tell us about your most memorable match(es)
The league website generates a list of greatest rivals, and many of my most memorable matches have been against my greatest rival--Feng Wan. Wan and I almost always have gone three sets, and many of those sets have been 7-6, 7-5 or 6-4. It's always a battle against Wan.

Who are your favorite rivals in the league? Why?
In addition to Wan, Chris Staples and Povilaitis. Wan for those long three-setters, Staples for his relentless heavy topspin forehands and Povilaitis for his monster serve and powerful ground strokes.

Do you have any other interesting comments about your experiences with the league?
 I love all the stats on the website.

How did you get started playing tennis?
I started playing seriously in high school. I was more of a baseball player at the time, but when weighing the pros and cons of playing baseball or tennis my freshman year of high school, it was clear that I'd get much more playing time if I opted for tennis, so I did.

What level player are you? (NTRP rating)
4.0. My 4.0 team from USTA Northern recently went to nationals in Arizona, and I'm now playing on a 4.5 team. I'm co-captaining that 4.5 team.

What do you love about tennis?
The physical and mental battles. I go back and forth on which I need to work more on. Some days I'm in the game mentally but not there physically. And some days vice versa. That's tennis.
  
Tell us a little bit about yourself, for example: What do you do? Where did you grow up? What are your hobbies (besides tennis)? (Feel free to share any interesting details about your life.)
I grew up on the East Coast, went to college in Atlanta and did graduate work in Massachusetts, Indiana and Los Angeles. I have a background in music theory and journalism, and currently work as a reporter covering the legal sector.

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