Hubbard leading, teaching at Gulf

By MATTHEW PARKE

Trevor Hubbard is growing into his game.

The 6-foot-3 senior has plowed through his opponents, the bright spot on an otherwise underwhelming Gulf tennis team, who are 1-4.

"Before he wasn't sure how to use his body to best execute his shots," said Coach Bret Wiest. "Now he's attacking the net. He is a force."

"My serve is getting huge now," Hubbard said. "That's helping out my game, with my ground strokes and net play. I'm not quite comfortable with my net play. Once I'm at the net I'm comfortable, but getting there is what screws me up."

Now that Hubbard is using his frame to overpower less developed No. 1s on stronger teams, he is also covering more ground with his footwork.

"He has a great baseline. This year he is coming to the net more and moving a lot better," said Wiest. "He has a knack for where to be."

Hubbard only dropped one set to Land O'Lakes' Jarrod Dargahi, before being defeated outright by Saddlebrook's Tamer Antabi 6-0, 6-3. The result, according to Wiest, was not typical of Hubbard's play. A lack of concentration affected Hubbard in his first set, the second set was a different story.

"You could not tell who was going to win the match. It was that good of a set with rallies and points. Trevor was matching shot for shot. They were going back and forth for a few games, but the better player prevailed," Wiest said.

Wiest attributed the lack of focus to Hubbard's easy wins over his earlier opponents.

"It's still a loss, but it helped him. Trevor needs to see better players. When you see some guys who are not at your level, you start playing down. The loss got him refocused," Wiest said.

In a rematch Thursday against River Ridge's Lucas Loman, Hubbard was a "whole different player," according to Wiest. In their previous match, Hubbard gave up nine games. On Thursday, he allowed just one, winning 6-1, 6-0.

"Trevor is getting back his killer instinct," said Wiest. "He had every game in focus and did not lose his mental edge."

Hubbard's success in singles matches have not translated into wins for the Gulf team, which beat newcomers Wiregrass Ranch 6-1, but have not won as a team since. Wiest explains that after you get past Hubbard, the rest of the team is relative neophytes. Wiest hopes that by the district tournament, they will have leveled out their play.

"They are playing well but cannot win matches. The hard part for them is figuring out strategies and getting over them for the win," Wiest said.

Hubbard is leading by example and teaching his peers about the finer aspects of tennis. In practice, according to Hubbard, they are keeping up. In match situations, they are succumbing to the same mistakes Hubbard made when he was a younger player, a fact that Hubbard understands well.

"They can hit with me. They know they can hit the shots. I just want to give them some confidence so they can win their matches," Hubbard said.

"They are a tight knit group of friends. Three of my players are playing tennis for the first time. Trevor is teaching them form and strategy," said Wiest. "If they can play with him they can play better."

Gulf will play Hernando and Zephyrhills this week.