“I dropped the racket,” senior Connor Genschaw said. “I was just like, “Oh my gosh. Season’s over.a�� The capping of four years of hard work, all in that one match. Like winning states, reliefa�� excitement, and joy basically. All in that couple minutes.”

And that’s just the beginning of what has happened to Connor this year. Not many people can say they were named Homecoming King and then two weeks later won a tennis state championship. But not everyone is Connor Grenshaw.

Connor has been playing tennis since the age of three and has always had a passion for the sport. Since the start of his high school career, his goal has been simple: win 1st singles at states. After four long years, he’s finally done it.

The win, of course, wasn’t just because of his hard work. Connor knows that this victory wasn’t possible without the hard work and support of the people around him.

“[My parents] traveled with me, they spent the money on lessons, traveling and tournaments, and then also [I’d like to thank] my coach Kurt Brummel,” Connor said. “He’s helped me the past couple of years and he’s improved my game a ton. This was definitely one of the biggest wins of my life.”

The win at states has set the tone for his rest of his senior year. Connor is taking on everything FHC has to offer with what time he has left.

“[The win at states] improves my senior year, just a whole bunch,” Connor said. “This year has just been so awesome, just everything that’s happened to me.”

However, with the high school season coming to a close, Connor plans on focusing on tennis, but now his eyes will be set on his college career.

“Playing in college, that’s what I’m looking forward to doing at Emory University,” Connor said. “I want to get an NCAA championship under my belt there.”

The road to his win was long and took lots of work. Connor has spent countless hours playing, practicing and perfecting his craft.

“[I play] tennis every day,” Connor said. “So during the season, we would have high school practice for about two and a half hours and afterward or even before, I would have my own lessons. So on average [I play] about three and a half hours a day.”

It may seem next to impossible to balance this intensive practice schedule with school work, and at times, it is.

“Sometimes, you just don’t [juggle schoolwork,]” Connor said. “I just need to sleep. But usually afterward [or] maybe at matches that I finish early, I bring homework and I do on the courts. But usually, I just stay up late and grind it out.”

This sounds difficult, but Connor is a living example that no matter what commitments one makes, school is manageable. No matter how hard it is, he’s remained focused and determined in order to balance tennis, grades, and friendships.

“In school, in general, take it one point at a time,” Connor said. “Take it [each] day at a time. Don’t look forward. Stay in the present, finish your stuff that you need to do now and stay in the present.”

The sport has had such a big impact on him; it affects his day to day mentality. However, the biggest lesson Connor learned from tennis he can apply to every single day.

“Stay humble,” Connor said. “When you get overexcited during a point, you’ll probably lose the point because you’re so anxious to hit the ball. You can bring that into your own life too. Stay humble. Don’t get overconfident and just stay yourself, and you’ll win the point and you’ll win in life.”