Douglas Freeman’s Hahn is girls tennis player of year

Her first season of high school tennis completed, Emily Hahn is headed to France.

She is certain to pick up some French culture, but it is tennis culture, specifically the red clay courts for which the country is famous, that is drawing her abroad.

"I'm going to train a lot. Everyone who goes there says it makes them a lot better," said Hahn, a rising sophomore at Douglas Freeman. "You have to be a lot more consistent and you have to be really fit."

Hahn was consistent and fit enough this spring to sweep through all Central Region opponents and win the region singles championship as a freshman. She teamed with junior Elena Rusu in doubles, and the pair didn't lose a match. They won the region doubles title and added the state championship in three sets with a ferocious comeback in the final.

For her accomplishments in a sport she is still learning, Hahn is The Times-Dispatch girls tennis player of the year.

"She has a bright future. She's a hard worker and very competitive," veteran Douglas Freeman coach Larry Parpart said. "She has good court presence, and you need to have that to be a champion."

Hahn turned 15 shortly before capturing the region singles title she had been predicted to win before the season began. She committed to tennis full time [she played soccer and tennis in middle school] this year and is still growing in the sport.

Playing high school tennis is part of the process.

"It was a really good experience. When I play tennis on my own, I'm just doing it for myself," she said. "For the Freeman team, it was a different pressure because I had to win for my team."

Hahn ascended to the No. 1 position with a challenge-match victory over Rusu, an All-Metro pick for the third year in a row. Coming into high school, Hahn knew some of her Rebels teammates because they had played together in middle school.

"I was nervous at first because I didn't know that many people," she said. "Once I got to know the other girls, it was a lot of fun."

Asked to pick a season highlight, instead of a match or winning a title, she talked about the team freshmen dancing to "Show Stopper."

"They have it on video. It was really funny," she said.

Although she gave herself an "A" grade for her tennis, she acknowledged her math grade went down during the season.

"I got to play a lot of good matches. I got to play tons of different people, and it was good that Elena and I got to play a lot of doubles," Hahn said. "I hadn't really played that much doubles."

Hahn defeated Yasmin Fotovat of Atlee in the region singles final, then she and Rusu beat Fotovat and Shao Ching Tu in the doubles.

Hahn's only singles loss came in the state semifinals when she was defeated in three sets by Kiersten Pappas of Loudoun Valley. Hahn and Rusu beat Pappas and Julianna Jacangelo in the doubles finals after falling behind 0-6, 3-5 with the Loudoun Valley pair serving for the match.

"Next year, I definitely want to win states. Singles and doubles," Hahn said. "That's my main goal."

Contact Arthur Utley at (804) 649-6559