Does Deerfield`s Mike Morrison try to intimidate his tennis opponents?
”Yes,” he says with a sly grin.
Does it work?
Most definitely, yes.
Morrison, the master intimidator, picked up his third straight state singles title when he defeated Maine West`s Nick Barone 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
Saturday in the finals at Hersey. New Trier scored a record 47 points to win the team championship. Lake Forest finished second with 40 points and Hinsdale Central placed third with 35.
Next year, Morrison will try to join Hinsdale`s Marty Riessen as the only players to have won four state titles in a row.
Intimidation will play a big part in Morrison`s quest. It did Saturday.
Exhibit No. 1:
Barone is on his second serve during the second set of the final. He has some momentum going. Morrison appears to be flustered. Or is he?
As Barone prepares to serve, Morrison stands on the service line, ready to return. Yes, on the service line. Barone doesn`t have the hardest serve, but it certainly deserves more respect than that.
But Morrison`s strategy is clear. He is sending a message to Barone.
”That`s a little psychology for you,” Morrison said. ”If I stand up there, maybe it`ll make him nervous. Maybe he`ll double-fault. I try to be aggressive whenever I can. It gets me psyched up.”
Morrison is relentless. He is constantly on the attack. Give him an opening, and you might as well grab a towel.
His court presence, more than anything else, has accounted for his three state titles. He is forever diving for balls. He is constantly imploring himself to play better. He even had a few run-ins with officials in the final, which he later regretted.
But it`s in keeping with his makeup.
”I love to win,” he said. ”I hate to lose.”
”Today, he showed a lot of mental toughness,” said Chuck Morrison, Mike`s father and the Deerfield coach. ”There`s nobody better in the state in that area. There are a lot of good athletes. I think Mike is the best. But it still comes down to the head. Mike`s got it there.”
Still, the elder Morrison never expected his son to be challenging the records of Riessen, who won two doubles titles at Wimbledon.
”I thought maybe by his senior year, he might be able to win it,” coach Morrison said. ”The freshman year was the hardest. I told Mike before the tournament that the title belongs in our house. Don`t let anyone take it away from us.”
If Morrison does have a fault, it`s that he tries to be too much of a perfectionist. The few incidents with the officials underscored that point.
”He wants to be too perfect,” his father said. ”He`s going to have to realize that he should be able to walk away from his mistakes.”
Morrison will go from being the top star to being just another player this summer, when he competes on a national level in the boys-18s. He was ranked 11th nationally in boys-16 last year.
