Jeff Gilbert

Gilbert is the sports editor for The Roanoke Times

Recent columns

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RADFORD -- Radford tennis player Sanjay Kishore has lots of questions. He also has lots of answers. But not all of those answers satisfy all of the questions. And sometimes the answers beget more questions.

Sound confusing?

Kishore isn't confused by anything that led to his singles loss Saturday during his team's 5-3 loss to Gate City in the Group A championship match. It wasn't the heat getting to him either.

Kishore sat on a bench next to the courts where his team had just lost, and he stared down while resting his elbows on his knees. If he had rested his chin on his fist and his elbow on his knee he would have resembled The Thinker. And thinking about what had just transpired was all he was in the mood to do, because he doesn't want to be having the same conversation a year from now.

The tough thing for him is that he knows what happened and he knows why. He just wishes he could solve the problem.

Kishore wasn't alone this weekend in his predicament during the VHSL Spring Jubilee tennis championships at Radford University. All around the 12 tennis courts, players in control of matches lost control of matches, whether it was singles or doubles.

This didn't happen when one player was clearly superior to his or her opponent. But when two players or two doubles teams were evenly matched, being in control usually meant you were about to lose control.

"It's weird to say that when you get up your confidence can get shaky, but it does," Kishore said.

Kishore experienced both sides of it during his No. 2 singles loss to Dalton Moore, who won the first set 6-1 and led the second set 4-1. Then, Kishore came back to lead the set 6-5 and had three set points. But he couldn't force the third set. Moore rallied to win the game, then won a 9-7 tiebreaker.

"I blame that on nerves," Kishore said. "You're never going to live that down. What happens if I push that to a third set? What would have happened?"

Asked if it is more difficult for a high school player to play with a lead than from behind, Kishore said, "Definitely, definitely," while nodding his head vigorously in agreement.

"That's one reason I was able to get back into my match," Kishore said. "He was up 4-1, and just the slightest opening he started playing a little tentative. I credit the way I was able to come back not totally on me, but just him not playing with the same quality he had in that first set."

So what does a good player like Kishore do about this? He knows what any player should do, but those thoughts to not alter your approach are much easier to tell yourself than to execute.

It's the other thought that creeps in that is difficult to suppress. Kishore said it's the one that instructs him to play cautious. He knows giving into that thought is his first mistake.

"You never want to take your foot off the gas," he said. "You always want to keep going, but you talk yourself into this, you talk yourself into that. It's just a little internal conflict going on. It's tough to deal with."

Mental toughness is the ability to battle through the adversity, to play the way you want to play, to remain aggressive. Kishore and his teammates are far from devoid of mental toughness. Yet, it's always an attribute that can be strengthened or at least refined.

Moore, perhaps, had the edge in mental toughness against Kishore. Moore didn't have to endure the six-hour team match in Friday's semifinals that Kishore did, but Moore clearly endured to win the match. Not long after it was over the heat made him ill enough to withdraw from doubles play.

"I know I could have pushed it to a third set," Kishore said. "I know I was in control of everything. I don't know what happened.

"There's so much pressure. How are you going to handle that?"

That's the question that only Kishore can answer for himself. If he can, perhaps the Bobcats can win a state title next year and avoid a fourth straight loss in the finals.

The pressure to get back to state minus three of their top six players from this year's team is already the stated goal for Kishore and fellow rising senior Malik Mubeen, the Bobcats' top player who won the state singles title Thursday.

Kishore's honest assessments of what happened and what has to happen came easily as he thought out loud. He knew he had given 100 percent of his energy to winning. He said he was tired from the day before and wondered if it was conditioning. But he also admitted he didn't play his best game mentally.

Then he started talking about the "pressure cooker" it is on the court.

"Any of the drills you do in preparation, it doesn't matter," he said. "It's who's stronger mentally. Who can outlast the conditions. Who can play the smarter game.

"Your game is only so much of it, and that's what you find out here at state. There's so much pressure. We've been building on this moment for three years. Everybody's watching. You come down to these tiebreakers or these third sets. You feel the nerves. You would think by now we would have steeled ourselves. We've been in this situation so many times, but it never seems to go away. And I felt it pretty strongly in my match, and I know my partners did."

But it's a pressure he hopes to face next year, and he hopes he and his teammates have the answers on how to overcome it. Gate City loses only one player, so a rematch could be in the making.

Just think, maybe it won't be so hot either.