Written by: USPTA Elite Professional Peter Freeman
It is really cool when youths go after their dreams. To see passion, hard work, and dedication pay off makes everyone feel great at the end of the day.
Junior tennis player Carver Arant is someone we can all be proud of regardless of our age or playing level. Carver is 16 year old and skyrocketing his game up the USTA Georgia ranks.
Carver is eligible to play in the 16 and under age group but has chosen to play in the 18’s age division. Like most high achievers Carver set a goal for himself.
Carver’s goal at the beginning of the year was to be ranked inside the top 50 of Georgia by the end of the year. Well Carver has been on fire this summer and is ranked 17 in the state.
In fact, Carver has done so well that he recently was added to the Prince Top 100 List by Tennisrecruiting.com. The Hot 100 features 100 boys and 100 girls who have been playing outstanding tennis. These players have substantially improved their rankings over the past month.
He did this by posting some impressive victories. On the way to reaching the Finals of the Georgia State Junior Open, he beat a 4 star college recruit who is ranked 3rd in South Carolina.
Arant backed up that tournament result by getting to the final of the McCalister Championship in Tennessee. Carver beat two 4 star recruits, one player who was 17 in Georgia at the time and another player who is #1 in Tennessee.
Carver reached the final by doing something not many people are able to figure out. He won without bringing his A game.
“I grew over the weekend as I did not have my A game. But I still managed to beat great players that I have a lot of respect for.” says Carver
What makes Carver’s results so impressive is the rate of how fast he is improving. In all my years of coaching I cannot remember seeing anyone skyrocket their game faster. Most kids playing at Carver’s level started playing tennis around 5 or 6 years old. Carver started when he was 12.
Carver also faces kids that are mostly home schooled and train at top junior academies. Unfortunately there are not many kids at Carver’s level in the area to train with.
So how does he do it? Carver puts forth 100% effort every time he steps on the court for a private lesson with me. On days we don’t have a lesson you can usually find Carver banging against a wall or ball machine hour after hour.
If it rains he is inside studying video of the pros, or doing shadow swing workouts. Carver is an inspiration to people of ages, proving that if you want something bad enough and you are willing to work hard you can achieve just about anything you set your mind to.
