I sat down with Dan Freeman '10 to talk about the final tennis season at Dartmouth for both him and head coach Chuck Kinyon.
This fall you won both the Dartmouth and Harvard Invitationals. What does that say about where your game is at right now?
DF: It says that my game is at a very high level at the moment. I've only lost one match, actually, this entire year since September. It was right after I beat the No.1 in the region, this kid from Columbia, and I kind of had a let down.
Have you been able to carry how you were playing in the Fall to the Winter?
DF: I actually think I can build on that now that I have got my confidence up there and knowing I can hang with these guys. I think I can have a really successful year it's kind of my final campaign, my last hurrah.
If you are beating a lot of the number-one players on Ivy League teams, how will that affect how the team matches up?
DF: In years past, we've traditionally done well at the bottom of the lineup but struggled stacking up to the top. If we can get a few wins at the top of the lineup, the team overall will be confident that we're better than them, and we can beat them. If one player gets hot and is confident, it's easy for the team to ride that wave.
What have you been attributing your play to?
DF: I've been isolating a lot of specifics and strengths in a lot more one-on-one sessions with our head coach [Kinyon] throughout this year, one-on-one focused practice sessions. He's obsessed with these focused practice sessions. He made us read a book about it.
What does it mean that it's your last season and Kinyon's last season?
DF: It actually means a lot to me. The life of a tennis player is a tough one, pre-college. It's independent and isolated. You travel to tournaments, train hard every single day. I've had 12 years of training under my belt, which all culminates in the next four months. It's pretty heavy. Having a coach who is in his last year and has been coaching for 30 means we are on the same page, and we have the same goals. I'm excited that his last year is my last year because it adds a special element.
Why do they call you the "Monster"?
DF: "Monster" is short for Couchmonster. My two roommates, Matt Hartman ['10] and Jim Keaney ['10], came up with the name after I logged in many hours being a couch potato in our triple in Wheeler sophomore year. Ultimately, when they would come back from partying, I would just be chilling on the couch every night because I had tennis.
So you've had some big wins on the tennis court so far this season, but arguably your most impressive victory came in a different venue. Can you talk a little about that?
DF: I've always had a side interest in ping pong. Over Thanksgiving, I played with a friend, fellow Californian John Zeiter ['12], who mentioned he was on the club ping pong team. We agreed to play when I mentioned I played a bit myself. We had a few good games, but I came out of it the victor. I asked him who the number one player in the club was and proceeded to challenge him to a contest of ping pong. I didn't think this guy would just agree to play, so I got his attention by sending a pretty aggressive trash-talk challenge over blitz.
So, what happened?
DF: Well [Thursday] night, I marched in there with my beaten-up sand paper paddle and after I was made fun of by every member of the club team for bringing out this artifact I proceeded to hand Jie Xu ['10] a beating he will surely remember for the rest of his life.
In theory you're now the No. 1 tennis player and ping pong player in the school. How does that make you feel?
DF: I'm finally a two-sport athlete.
Any plans for tennis post-graduation?
DF: My entire life-long dream since I've been playing is to be No. 1 at my tennis club in Los Angeles. I just hope to be the club champion one day.
I can't believe you've never won that before. Who stands in your way?
DF: Well, none of the good guys actually play in the tournament anymore, so now it's just a bunch of old guys. There are some crafty weekend warriors that I'll have to contend with, but I think I should be able to pull it out.
