Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 15, 1994 TAG: 9401150103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 13-year-old enters today's Mid-Atlantic Tennis Association Boys' 14-under Championships in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., as the top seed. He would have been No. 2 if top-ranked MATA player Carter Morris of Washington, D.C., had entered.
"I'd rather not be No. 1, because people are gunning for you," Hippensteel said. "[I'll try] just not to play any match easy."
Hippensteel opens the 32-player tournament at 1 p.m. today at against Jete O'Keefe of Lynchburg, and, win or lose, plays again at 7 p.m. at The Greenbrier resort.
The event is one of five singles championship tournaments held each year by the MATA, which draws players from Virginia, D.C., Maryland and West Virginia.
The semifinals are 4 p.m. Sunday, and the final is 10:30 a.m. Monday.
Hippensteel went 8-0 during the summer at the National Zonals Team competition in Forest Hills, N.Y.; finished in the top 16 at the McDonald's Junior National Invitational in the fall in Cincinnati; and was among the top 64 at the Boys' National Indoor Championships in the fall in Chicago.
Yet, Hippensteel says the MATA tournament ranks "pretty high" in importance. Ron Bohrnstedt, the tournament's director, said the first four MATA championships can help players earn bids to the U.S. Tennis Association Boys' 14-and-under national championships during the summer.
One of Hippensteel's biggest concerns this weekend might have nothing to do with tennis. A starter on North Cross' junior varsity basketball team, he will have played five basketball games this week before the MATA tournament begins.
"I've been playing pretty good [tennis], but I haven't had much time to practice," he said. "I feel pretty good. I'm pretty physically fit, because they make us run in [basketball] practice."
by CNB