How Lexington’s top tennis player stays grounded, and stylish, on the court
Two hours and 47 minutes.
That’s how long it took Tates Creek senior Zach White and Henry Clay sophomore Evan Duggal to complete their Wednesday quarterfinal bout in the KHSAA State Tennis Championships.
So much time elapsed between the start of the first set and the match’s final point — a volley into the back by White that was returned into the net, settling a 10-8 tie-breaking set in his favor — that most of the doubles matches, which started an hour after theirs began, were completed. The other three boys’ semifinalists, and all four on the girls’ side, were long determined.
White became the first Commodore to reach the last day since Grant Roberts, who went on to star for UK and now coaches at Ole Miss, reached the finals in 2009 and 2010. White, who was making his third bid for a state title, is the only Tates Creek boy to play in the state tournament since Roberts.
“I don’t know how many water bottles he went through,” Tates Creek Coach Matt Olsen said of White’s 5-7, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (8) victory. “Probably about a gallon by the end of the match.”
Signs of stardom
David White has been a tennis pro for more than 30 years, and currently is the director of tennis at Lexington Tennis Club. But, he never pressured Zach into playing the game.
They’d face off in friendly rounds on occasion while Zach was elementary age, but his son’s first passion was basketball. It wasn’t until he was 10 that his interest in tennis went from a backyard level to something greater.
“He was out there one day doing a clinic with the better kids at our club and I asked one of our other pros, ‘What’s he doing out there,’ and he said, ‘I told him you don’t need to be sitting there, you should come out and hit some,’” David said. “And he did, and then he liked it. A couple weeks later he told me, ‘I want to do that every day.’”
The switch from hardwood courts to those tennis offers was effortless in the early going, says David. He knew he could be as good as he’s proven to be throughout high school.
“And I’m not saying that because I’m his dad,” David said. “This is what I do. I see all these good players. He was very athletic and I knew if he put his mind to it and worked a little bit, it’d work out.”
There’s an alternate universe in which Duggal and White were teammates. White as a freshman enrolled at Henry Clay — which regularly fields contenders at the state tournament — for one day after qualifying for its junior ROTC program.
“I respect people who are in it, but it was not for me,” White said with a laugh. “I signed out, went back to Tates Creek and that’s where I’ve been ever since. I love it, it’s a great school.”
His self-awareness has only improved since, and with it has budded an endearing sense of individuality. White, his head capped with a “Bass Pro Shops” logo and neck dressed with a gem-studded chain, would not be mistaken for any of the other participants, all dressed either in neutral or school colors.
White often wears a shirt recognizing Justin’s Place, an equine-therapy service in Wilmore geared toward children with autism and Down syndrome, but could not find it before the quarterfinal. He likes to fish, but admits he hasn’t lately been able to get outdoors much other than, of course, to train.
“It’s just unique,” White said. “Everyone else is wearing Nike and Adidas, I’m wearing Bass Pro Shop. That’s how it is. ... I wear what I want and express myself on the court.”
Last match
Last year might have been Zach’s best shot at a state title. He was a junior coming off a round-of-16 loss to Paul Laurence Dunbar star Matt Halpin, the eventual state champion in 2019, and would have had a strong shot at a top-four seed after a probable victory in the 11th Region championship.
Of course, none of last year’s postseason tournaments were played, leaving these editions as the final ones in Zach’s prep career. After defeating Duggal in the Fayette County Public Schools Championships earlier in the year, he fell in straight sets in the region finals. Wednesday’s match was a thrilling end to their trilogy.
He went into a 9 a.m. semifinal battle Thursday with St. Xavier’s Eli Stephenson — the top seed and one of the nation’s top recruits in the sophomore class — with a sore right quad, strained late in the second set against Duggal. That’s where White’s run at state ended (6-1, 6-2) but his playing days aren’t over: he’s committed to play for Bellarmine University.
White was disappointed with his final result, but he would not have even been in position to play that match a year ago, he says. In the past year he’s gotten better at taming a temper that in the past has taken him out of matches well before they were finished.
“When the important times come, you’ve gotta steady up,” Zach said. “If you’re up 40-love in a game and you hit an ace you might be able to yell, ‘Come on’ or something like that but on those big points, you want to stay steady and calm and keep your emotions cool. Not too happy, not too down on yourself. You want to be right at that happy medium and be able to think clearly about what you’re doing.
“A year ago that wouldn’t have happened. It would have went the other way.”
David and Donna, Zach’s mother, were on edge the entire quarterfinal. After that match — arguably the tournament’s finest — anything else would have been “icing on the cake,” said David.
“This has been a tough little stretch here because he’s put so much pressure on himself to do well,” David said. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”
White was the only senior boy to reach the final day in singles, a factor that led to him being named Mr. Tennis by the coaches association at the end of the state tournament. He became the second 11th Region recipient in the last three years, after Halpin, to claim the honor.
But he was the first to do so with a fish on his head.
Championship results
▪ Reagan Mangan and Willow Renton defeated teammates Emma and Katie Beavin, 6-4, 6-0, Thursday to win their first girls’ doubles state title. It was North Oldham’s second in school history; the Beavin twins won the first as eighth-graders in 2017 before embarking on solo tours the next two seasons.
“It was emotional,” said Mangan, a sophomore. “They were seniors, so it’s like, you wanna win but I just feel bad. They’re seniors and it was their last match ever.”
▪ St. Xavier’s tandem of Ty Bush and Patrick Johnson defeated South Oldham’s Jordan Cordrey and Matthew Thomas, 6-4, 6-1, for the boys’ doubles championship. It was St. Xavier’s fourth doubles title in the last five opportunities (Trinity won in 2019), but this duo’s first.
▪ St. Xavier sophomore Eli Stephenson defeated Greenwood junior Jacks Lancaster, 6-3, 6-3, to win his first title. “At the end I just got the momentum swinging my way,” Stephenson said. “I was down 2-0 in the first (set), came back and fought back. I had my team behind me cheering me on.”
▪ Sacred Heart’s Carrie Beckman defeated teammate Ellie Eades, 6-1, 6-1, for the girls’ singles crown, her third in a row. It was the second time that Beckman topped Eades in the final match; she won the 2018 title over her when they were both freshmen.
▪ St. Xavier added team title No. 28 to its state-record total; next closest is rival Trinity, which won its sixth in 2019. Sacred Heart won its 12th girls’ team championship, putting it alone at the top of the list; the Valkyries coming into 2021 were tied with Lone Oak with 11 each.
Lone Oak’s final operating school year was 2012-13. It was one of three schools that consolidated to form McCracken County, which has won three girls’ team titles since opening.
Henry Clay (boys) and North Oldham (girls) were the respective team runners-up.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 1:57 PM.
