Boys tennis player of the year
Jeremy Yuan, Northview High School
Achievements: USTA ranked No. 9 Boys 18 Southern Region, rated as a five-star recruit. Second as individual and champion in doubles at USTA National Warm Up Tournament. Won five matches at USTA National Hardcourt Championships. Plays saxophone in school band and performs for local homeless shelter.
Height/Weight: 5-foot-10, 175 pounds
Class: Senior
College choice: University of Chicago
Why Chicago: They have a really strong academic program and also put quite a bit of weight on their tennis. I wanted a balance.
Best high school moment: In my sophomore year, we played Walton in the state finals and we were down 1-2. They could have clinched the match. I was down three match points to my opponent. There were a lot of people watching because they expected him to win the next point, but I saved the match points and actually came back to win the match.
Why tennis: I started when I was 4. I like tennis because it's different than some of the other team sports. You're out there by yourself, and you can focus on yourself. It's like a music performance. You can go out on the court and decide how you're going to perform that day. You can decide what happens yourself.
What you'd like to be doing in 10 years: I want to major in bio-chemistry. I want to go to medical school and be a doctor, maybe a surgeon.
Favorite high school course: Chemistry. My mom is also a chemist, so I guess it runs in the family.
People who helped along the way: My dad has taken me to every single tennis tournament since I was 8 or 9. My coach Gery Groslimond has given me some of the best advice to help improve my tennis game the four to five years I've worked with him.
Toughest high school opponent: Daniel Li of Chattahoochee. He's a friend off the court and a tough competitor on the court. His game matches up well with mine, and he makes me work real hard for every single point.
Favorite movie: "Train to Busan." I like the concept. It's a zombie apocalypse movie, and they're stuck in a subway and everybody tries to find a way out.
Favorite song: "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. That's really their only song I like, but I like the beat. It's a really good song.
Worst high school moment: I haven't had that many bad high school moments. I can't really pinpoint any really bad moments. I've enjoyed it quite a bit.
If you could be any other athlete on earth: I like to watch a lot of basketball, and my favorite athlete is Shaquille O'Neal. There's no one else like him. He's the only one.
Money or happiness: Usually most people choose happiness, but in modern society money comes first. I'm studying economics right now and you can actually buy happiness. You can plot that out on a graph.
Best word to describe yourself: Self-motivated. Usually I can force myself to physically motivate myself to do something like go to the gym.
View of the world at this moment: I'm not really sure. My life is going pretty well. On a global scale it's in the middle. Can't say if it's going up or going down.
What you would put in a time capsule: Photographs of what I was like in this time. If someone sees them, they can see what my life was like.
About the Author
