Senior Sebastian Lisiak has been a key factor in the Zionsville Community High School tennis team’s success this season.
“He had some difficult matches early on, and now he is coming into form,” Eagles coach Earl Allen said. “At No. 2 singles, he’s rocking it.”
Lisiak took an 18-7 record into the No. 3 Eagles’ (20-2) match against No. 8 North Central Oct. 14 in the state quarterfinals.
“The issues I’ve been having this season mainly consist of struggling to finish points,” said Lisiak, who was unbeaten in the sectional, regional and semistate matches. “I would set up a point really well but miss on the last shot. I’ve also been struggling with my forehand crosscourt. I feel like I’m getting better during the postseason. The main thing I’ve been working on is hitting the ball as clean as possible and being patient.”
Lisiak was dominant in his 6-2, 6-0 victory over Terre Haute South’s Vatsal Mannepalli Oct. 8 in the semistate at Center Grove.
Allen said Lisiak has improved in many areas, most importantly his mental game.
The 6-foot-1 Lisiak has been on varsity for three years after playing No. 1 singles on the freshman team. Lisiak was 15-2 at No. 2 singles last season before being sidelined by a back injury for most of the 2021 postseason.
Lisiak said his back had healed by the summer, but he was slowed by missing so much time.
“It was mainly during winter and early spring that my back was an issue causing me to not be able to play in many tournaments,” he said. “This made me basically not be as match tough going into the season as I would have hoped. But I haven’t had any injuries this season.”
Lisiak started playing tennis when he was around 6 years old.
“I also played a good amount of soccer but stopped sometime in middle school,” he said.
Lisiak plans to go to Purdue University to study data science or engineering.
“I plan to play tennis just recreationally,” Lisiak said.
Lisiak enjoys playing other sports, such as volleyball. He said other hobbies include playing video games and watching informative videos on YouTube.
Favorite athlete: Roger Federer
Favorite movie: “Parasite”
Favorite TV shows: “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul”
