After committing to several other sports, junior Jantzen Redwine found his home on the tennis court. With many of his hours spent on the tennis court, Redwine appreciates tennis’s challenges.
“I think tennis is underappreciated. I think people underestimate the athletic ability it takes to play tennis–how physically and mentally enduring tennis is,” Redwine said. “Tennis is mentally as challenging as a sport like golf, and as physically demanding as basketball.”
Rewine began his tennis career in 2020 as an eighth grader. With long hours of practice and lessons, Redwine battled his way to the top of Legacy’s team.
“I’ve always had the drive to be the best at whatever I do. I started extremely late compared to other people at my level, but that gave me even more motivation to be better,” Redwine said. “It’s not a great character trait, but I thrive on impressing others. My biggest motivation was to impress everyone about how fast my game developed and hope quickly I improved.”
Legacy Tennis Coach, his father, Chad Redwine, motivates him to be the best player. Although it’s nice to have a motivator in the house, Jantzen Redwine struggles with the situation.
“In general, I do enjoy my coach being my dad. Although it’s very hard to separate tennis from our personal relationship at times, having him on the court allows me to be more comfortable expressing my feelings and better explain my thoughts on court,” Redwine said.
Redwine spends many long hours practicing and growing outside of school. Redwine credited his private lessons coach, Austin Haden at the Walnut Creek Country Club.
“The attribute that Jantzen has is the ability to have a level head as to results. When he loses, he has a short memory of the loss. When he wins a big match, he will celebrate that night and the next day it’s like the win never happened,” Haden said. “He doesn’t ever brag about the level he has achieved. He has confidence but doesn’t show it much.”
Redwine fought through the ranks to number one on the team. He is enthusiastic for his role to influence and encourage other players with his game and his attitude.
“I would tell a new player to keep trying, even if they fail. In a sport like [tennis], failing is the only way to succeed. There was a long era of my freshman and sophomore year where I would constantly lose over, and over, and over again,” Redwine said. “My biggest tip is to just keep playing matches.”
