By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
There's no doubt that Washburn Rural senior tennis star Mason Thieu has the ability to play college tennis.
But after devoting most of his life to the sport, including a stint at a Florida tennis academy, he decided that probably wasn't for him.
Now he's content to play tennis simply for the love of the sport and is enjoying it as much -- maybe more -- than he ever has.
Washburn Rural's senior singles star Mason Thieu is undefeated on the 2022 season, including the championship in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Mason Thieu serves the ball in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational. Thieu won the singles championship. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Thieu was an immediate standout for Kevin Hedberg's Junior Blues as a freshman in 2019, earning a Class 6A state medal with a ninth-place state singles finish.
But after losing his sophomore season to COVID-19, Thieu eventually made the decision to to attend the Celsius Tennis Academy in Sarasota, Fla. with the hopes of improving his game and garnering interest from Division I schools.
That approach paid off to a point, but also resulted in a revision of Thieu's priorities.
"I thought it went pretty good,'' Thieu said. "I trained a lot more than I did in Kansas so I got a lot better down there and I kind of grew up more as a person, too, because I was my own for a good amount of time. I did end up getting all the contact from colleges I was wanting but I was just playing so much and I honestly was a little burnt out before I even went down there.
"When I went down there it kind of helped because I was just so focused on playing it was cool, but then I came back here (last May) and I couldn't find the love of the sport as much as I used to.''
But once Thieu took a step back from the sport and decided -- at least for now -- against pursuing a college career, he ended up regaining that love.
"I'm feeling good now,'' said Thieu, who is still undefeated on the season after claiming the singles championship in Tuesday's Topeka West Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center with an 8-3 win over Kansas City Christian's Caleb Bartels. "When I came back (to Topeka) I was still planning to play college, but then a few months into school I just didn't feel that that's what I wanted to do anymore.
"I'm enjoying it a lot more because I have so many good teammates that I'm really good friends with outside of tennis and I've been playing some of the best tennis I've played since I came back from Florida because I have no fear. I used to play really nervous but now I know it's my last season and I'm just trying to have a good time so I just play loose.''
Thieu said Hedberg, one of the most successful coaches in state history, has helped in that regard.
"He does a really good job of leading me in the direction of where I should go with the match but he doesn't control me to tell me what I have to specifically do,'' Thieu said. "He gives me control of what I need to do but helps guide me.''
Thieu also appreciates Hedberg's laid back coaching style.
Theiu fell behind 3-2 early against Bartels but neither Thieu or Hedberg showed any signs of panic and Thieu won six straight games to close out the win.
"In the really intense part of the match we were laughing and stuff because I missed such a bad ball,'' Thieu said. "It was kind of fun. I'm having a great time.''
