For many years, Ithaca has had consistent representation at the highest levels of high school tennis, that being the state championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing. That was certainly the case in the fall as four members of the girls team took part in the festivities. That trend carried over to a spring with a senior doubles pairing.
Jonah Jacobstein and Orion Patie competed at states last month, where they fell to Warwick Valley’s Victor Januario and Dennis McAteer in straight sets in the Round of 32. While they would have liked to have gone further in the tournament, the fact that they even made it that far was quite the way to cap off their time playing for the Little Red.
“For me it was a little disappointing to lose,” Jacobstein said. “I really wanted to win this year, because the last two years I’d also gone down and lost in the first round. This year I felt we were by far the strongest team that I’ve been on, much stronger than last year and the year before. But it was still really cool. It’s always fun to play there.”
In order to get there, Jacobstein and Patie had to win their state qualifier match against Maine-Endwell’s James Martin and Ryan Underwood, which they did with a comfortable 6-1, 6-1 victory. The biggest factor to both that commanding result and every time they team up together is a strong second serve.
“Having a second serve where you’re still at an advantage is huge in doubles because you have another guy at the net where you know if the opponent doesn’t hit a good shot, then you still win the point,” Jacobstein said. “If your second serve is almost as effective as your first serve, you’re at a huge advantage at the beginning of every point. That was the case for us, which was key.”
Entering the state tournament, the senior had not only been undefeated, they did so without dropping a single set. Even crazier? It was their first year playing doubles together for a full season. It didn’t take long at all for them to strike up one dynamic partnership.
“As we got closer to the playoffs, we started to play a lot together,” Patie said. “That really helped our chemistry, which I think set us apart, too… Off the court we’re both very good friends and spend a lot of time together.”
Patie in particular enjoyed an utterly dominant swan song for the Little Red. Along with going 6-1 in doubles with Jacobstein, he also went a perfect 10-0 in singles while losing only two sets. The biggest key to putting up such staggering numbers comes down to the mental side of his game.
“The way that I go about it is often I try to tell myself to think like a goldfish,” Patie said. “The idea is in tennis you’re going to lose about half of the points, but you always have to tell yourself that losing one point is totally fine. You just have to move on to the next one. A lot of players have a routine before they serve, and you have to find that routine which gets you in the zone and just clear your mind.”
Jacobstein also had a terrific time on the court in singles, posting a 10-2 record. That was his highest win tally throughout his career with the Little and an improvement on his 7-4 mark from last year. This season culminated in all of the time and effort he put into the sport.
“I think the biggest thing that I’ve improved on is my movement,” Jacobstein said. “In tennis, your movement is really important, and being in position to hit the ball well is probably the biggest difference between us and a pro tennis player. For me, I really worked on that a lot this summer. My form is practically the same as before, but my movement and strategy is so much better, astronomically better than it used to be. That has made a huge difference.”
Jacobstein and Patie were the two veterans on a very young Little Red roster. Ithaca had 12 freshmen in their ranks this year, the most successful of whom was Henry Bopp. He won the STAC title in the number-one singles spot, finished runner-up at sectionals and competed at state qualifiers.
As the senior duo gets set to enter a new chapter in their lives—Jacobstein at Dartmouth College and Patie at the University of Utah—one thing’s for certain: The future of the program is shining bright in part thanks to them leading by example this spring.
“It’s always fun to mentor a younger player that you might know already,” Jacobstein said. “All the freshmen on our team are just amazing. They’re all hard workers. They all love tennis, and I would not be surprised if in three years we’re sending six players to states.”
