UIL State Tennis: London's Ames Buchanan eyes coveted state gold medal in boys singles
Ames Buchanan has spent much of the last year during tennis workouts motivated by a single loss at the 2022 Class 3A state tennis tournament.
Buchanan, a senior at London High School, lost a three-set thriller to Wall’s Payne Smith, who then went on to win the state title in straight sets. It was a loss that has driven Buchanan in practice and in competitive matches and helped him make the tough decision of hanging up his basketball shoes to completely focus on tennis last fall.
As this year’s University Interscholastic League Class 3A state tournament is set for this week in San Antonio, Buchanan is simply feeling ready to complete the unfinished business from 2022.
“I had a few match points and I just lost it,” Buchanan said last week of the 2022 state semifinal. “It was like a three-hour match with 150 people watching, and he won (the state final) pretty easy. I really want to be in that position (again).”
Buchanan, a senior, has made his college decision as he will play at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor as much of his last year has been focused on tennis.
But in November, he was faced with an injury scare that could have affected him not only this spring but for longer. During a match, Buchanan said he felt a pop and some burning in his right elbow. After consulting multiple orthopedic surgeons, he was expecting to hear the worst news of a torn ulnar collateral ligament. That would require “Tommy John” surgery and he could’ve been out of action for nearly two years.
Luckily, the MRI revealed a slight tear in a muscle in his forearm. That turned out to be a bump in the road in his training, which could have been longer, and the news also helped him keep focused on winning the coveted state gold medal.
“That put me out for a while and I was just hoping and waiting for the MRI to come back, and it eventually came back negative,” Buchanan said. “I’m good now, and I’m ready.”
Buchanan said giving up basketball was hard because he had been close with members of the Pirates squad and enjoyed playing it but knew that to be successful, he had to stay focused on tennis for as long as he could.
He said he will devote anywhere from an hour to three hours, six days a week practicing, which could include hitting with his father, who played tennis in college, and also hitting with Corpus Christi Athletic Club Director of Tennis Matthew Westmoreland and another pro, Juan Ramirez, to fine-tune his game.
“The other day I was on the court for four hours, and sometimes it’s around two hours a day and just grinding,” Buchanan said.
This week will be the culmination of Buchanan’s preparation as he opens the tournament against Brock’s Kelan Williams on Tuesday morning at the Annemarie Tennis Center. He knows if he plays his game, he will have a shot at redemption.
“I’ve never really stopped thinking about that loss last year because I was so close to winning that state championship,” Buchanan said. “It’s pushing me more and more every day.”
UIL STATE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Tuesday-Wednesday, San Antonio
Coastal Bend Qualifiers
Class 5A
Girls Doubles — Madisyn Barganski-Lauren Hill, Flour Bluff
Class 4A
Boys Singles — Jacob Carr, Calallen
Mixed Doubles — Corina Cordova-Wolfgang Lopez, Tuloso-Midway
Class 3A
Boys Singles — Ames Buchanan, London
Girls Singles — Kailey Albrecht, London
Class 2A
Girls Singles — Carolina Williams, Port Aransas
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: UIL State Tennis: London's Ames Buchanan eyes coveted state title
