Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: Menlo School’s Kate Hsia

Hsia was on the verge of winning 48 consecutive points against Jessica Chan in last Tuesday’s matchup at Harker. And as her hands tightened and her face cringed in the ostensibly slow-motion finish, the fateful forehand landed just inside the baseline for match point, giving Hsia a 6-0, 6-0 “golden” match victory.

“I think at that point, in the moment, it was actually a complete shock because I didn’t know that could even happen, not to me at least,” Hsia said.

Hsia has been named Daily Journal Athlete of the Week for winning the “golden” match — consisting of two “golden” sets, winning 48 of 48 points from start to finish in a single match — something that, remarkably, happened twice throughout the nation last week. Three days after Hsia’s “golden” feat, senior Olivia Fails of Croatan High School in Newport, North Carolina recorded the school’s second “golden” match in two years.

So, they do happen. But witnessing one, let alone playing in one, is generally a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

“That’s pretty incredible,” Menlo head coach Bill Shine said. “I’ve been playing since I was 6 and I’ve never heard of that from anybody.”

Shine said he watched most of the first set of Hsia’s match, and was aware she hadn’t lost a point. It was then he turned his attention to coaching the rest of his team. On this day, Menlo would cruise to a 7-0 team victory. Hsia wasn’t the only individual match to end in a sweep. No. 1 doubles Izzy Klugman and Sulia Gayle won 6-0, 6-0, and No. 3 doubles Milla Bardony and Sofia Faris — in a delayed start, as Harker’s home at the Blackford Tennis Courts has just six courts — also swept to victory.

Because of Hsia’s efficient match, though, her match was the first of the day to be completed. It was then Shine learned she’d fired a perfecto.

“I watched most of the match,” Shine said. “I didn’t, obviously, see her lose a point. And when she came off ... her eyes got so big.”

Menlo’s longtime coach certainly had some questions:

“You didn’t double fault?”

“Nothing in the net?”

“Do you realize what that is?”

“She’s like: ‘Yes, I know,’” Shine said.

At that point, Shine was as in awe as the junior. Maybe more.

“I can’t believe the ball didn’t hit the net or drop over or shank one,” Shine said. “There’s a reason why it’s really never been done.”

Hsia has taken a modest path to the varsity starting lineup. Shine has coached her since her sixth-grade year at Menlo’s middle school, and she didn’t start getting serious about tennis until the summer prior to her freshman year. It was then she started working with private tennis clinician Yoav Saarony.

The move paid off, as Hsia made the Menlo varsity tennis team as a freshman, but she played sparingly. Even this season, she hasn’t seen much action in singles play, usually cracking the lineup at No. 1 doubles.

“Last year she really blossomed as a player as a sophomore,” Shine said. “It’s just her focus, her ability to pay attention at that particular moment. She’s really good at just locking in mentally and really gives her all physically as well. ... She’s just so determined. She’s a great example for the other kids to follow.”

One of Saarony’s main messages to Hsia served her well last Tuesday. That message, she said, is consistent encouragement to go for it. It’s good messaging for a kid who tends toward the shy side, and isn’t inclined to take a lot of bold chances on the court.

Hsia said she kept hearing Saarony’s voice in the back of her head as the “golden” match progressed.

“Especially in the last game,” Hsia said. “I was serving, and especially when I was hitting that second serve, I was thinking back to what he would tell me. Honestly, it was like he was right there next to me. ... I feel like I was just so, so in the zone. I feel like it was just really working for me.”

More like really, really, really working.

“I don’t think I realized what a big accomplishment it was when I first finished it,” Hsia said. “I don’t think I really processed it until I went and told my coach. ... And then his jaw just kind of dropped.”