Before tennis season opened, Portland junior Damien LeDu was penciled into a top-flight doubles pairing.
Then practice started for the Red Raiders, and LeDu forced some changes to the plans for Portland.
He ended up seizing the top singles spot after two years of playing doubles, and finished second in the conference to Lansing Catholic Central’s John Abood.
He’s also the Ionia Sentinel-Standard Boys Tennis Player of the Year.
“I was really expecting him to play one doubles, when he stepped on to the court for the first day of practice, it was like he was a completely different player,” said Portland coach Joel Cross.
LeDu finished 10-20 on the campaign, but was strong in conference play. Abood was the only player in conference he lost to, and even those were close. In the regular season, Abood won 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, and at the conference tournament it was 2-6, 6-3, 10-3.
Cross says he saw a lot in the way LeDu played even in the face of tough matchups.
“I thought he did a really great job, I thought he was right on the edge of being the player that can win some of the big matches,” Cross said. “He’s right there on the verge. He put a ton of work in.”
LeDu’s experience in doubles was a double-edged sword. Playing doubles for two seasons sharpened LeDu’s game at the net and helped him play aggressive as a singles player. But he also needed to learn some of the match management skills that goes along with singles play.
“It was one of the things he liked to do, playing aggressive and finish up points,” Cross said. “He was used to the doubles strategies. Learning to move the ball around the court and set his opponents up for those shots.”
Portland went 4-1 in dual matches in conference play, only falling 5-3 to Lansing Catholic Central. For the overall season, the Red Raiders tied for second in the CAAC White with county rival Ionia.
It was the strength up top that helped, as LeDu and sophomore Tejan Virk were a dynamic duo. The Red Raiders defaulted fourth singles all season, so they’d head into matches down 1-0.
But it was a big season for the junior, and LeDu’s got plenty of experience to build off and finish off some of those close matches next year, Cross said.
“He just needs to learn to recognize when the opportunities are there to hit the ball over to the corner of the court and finish points,” he said. “Setting himself up for the winners he can hit, because he’s really good at that.”
All-County Boys Tennis Team
Damien LeDu
SCHOOL >> Portland
GRADE >> 11
POSITION >> 1st singles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 10-20
COACH’S COMMENT >> “He lost to Lansing Catholic 2-6, 6-1, (7-3) in the (CAAC White Tournament) finals. He played a lot of top ranked teams and played some really good matches even though his record shows those as losses.” – Portland coach Joel Cross
Reily Teigeler
SCHOOL >> Lakewood
GRADE >> 11
POSITION >> 1st singles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 8-9
COACH’S COMMENT >> “He is team captain because he supports and encourages every player on the team. He is positive and works through adversity and pushes through even when he is outmatched.” – Lakewood coach Kevin Wheeler
Tejan Virk
SCHOOL >> Portland
GRADE >> 10
POSITION >> 2nd singles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 16-8
COACH’S COMMENT >> “Tejan had the best record on our team. He was league champ and just barely lost in the regional final to Williamston 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.”
Christian Miller
SCHOOL >> Ionia
GRADE >> 11
POSITION >> 2nd singles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 8-4
COACH’S COMMENT >> “5-1 at second singles. Christian was the hardest worker on the team, a captain and a great leader for us. Really hits the ball well with a tremendous serve.” – Ionia coach Scott Pischea
Cole Petersen
SCHOOL >> Ionia
GRADE >> 10
POSITION >> 3rd singles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 7-5
COACH’S COMMENT >> “5-1 at third singles. Extremely consistent, great at keeping the ball in play.”
Harper Duell
SCHOOL >> Ionia
GRADE >> 10
POSITION >> 4th singles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 9-3
COACH’S COMMENT >> “Just a tremendous overall game, very dedicated to tennis. Ground strokes are as good as anybody on our team.”
Eddy Holcomb and Max Weller
SCHOOL >> Portland
GRADE >> 12/10
POSITION >> 1st doubles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 15-14
COACH’S COMMENT >> “Both of these guys won every match they played in county. They had a good record playing some of the best doubles teams in the state.”
Mason Clark and Riley McClintock
SCHOOL >> Ionia
GRADE >> 10/10
POSITION >> 3rd doubles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 8-3
COACH’S COMMENT >> “Very talented duo. Knew their strengths and played well together.”
Jake Whitney and Nolan Lundstrom
SCHOOL >> Ionia
GRADE >> 10/11
POSITION >> 4th doubles
BY THE NUMBERS >> 5-0 in regular season
COACH’S COMMENT >> “Had a great season when they eventually got paired together. Lost a tough match in the region to a seeded team.”