Bailey’s Decision to Have Fun Leads to Better Play

It has taken Capistrano Valley junior Jenny Bailey some time, but she’s beginning to figure out she’s supposed to be beating up on her opponents, not herself.

“Some people are better when they have a lot of emotion and they get mad at themselves,” Bailey said. “I’ve learned that I’m the opposite of that.”

Bailey is learning she’s a pretty good tennis player when she’s relaxed and under control. A more composed Bailey has gone 59-13 this year during dual-match sets and has earned a spot in the round of 16 at the Southern Section individual singles tournament for the first time. She qualified by knocking off previously unbeaten Samantha Waller of Cypress two weeks ago at Huntington Beach High.

Bailey will play at 11:15 a.m. today at the Racquet Club of Irvine against a player to be announced. The section does not release tournament draws until the morning of the event.

“I hope I get a good draw,” Bailey said. “I want to do well. It’s important that I finish off the year strong.”

No matter who she plays, it’s likely her opponent won’t see the old Jenny Bailey. The one who took herself and her game so seriously that she forgot to play the person across the net.

Bailey said her problems began during her freshman season of high school tennis. She was fresh off a successful summer on the junior tennis circuit and her expectations were high.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well,” she said. “In high school if you lose concentration for a little bit, you’ve lost. There’s only one set. That was hard to get used to. My level was not very good that season. Then, I didn’t play well at [national] indoors and I lost some confidence.”

Capistrano Valley Coach Kerry Leander said he spent a lot of time trying to rebuild Bailey’s confidence.

“She’d get very down on herself,” Leander said. “She’d say she hated the game and wanted to quit. I’d have to console her, wipe away the tears and work her back into a positive frame of mind.”

It was about that time Bailey and teammate LeAnn Merryman began taking lessons from Butch Young at the Felipe Tennis Center in Mission Viejo. Bailey credits Young with changing her game and her outlook. Young said Bailey has taken a more mature approach to her tennis career.

“We’ve worked on her being more tolerant,” Young said. “If you give everything you have and you come up short, there should be some consolation in that. She’s starting to see that.”

Said Bailey: “I’m a little more laid-back now and I’m having more fun.”

She’s also beginning to expand her game. A baseliner since she took up tennis at age 8, Bailey is slowly working her way into the court.

“Jenny has always been kind of a grinder,” Young said. “But if you’re going to play college tennis, you have to be able to handle balls at the net. She still needs to get more comfortable at doing that, but she’s making progress.”

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Bailey put her game on display for college coaches at the girls’ 16 national indoors in Houston. In going 2-2 in singles and 2-1 in doubles, Bailey not only learned she could beat top-notch competition, but also that she preferred playing tennis indoors.

“I liked it a lot,” she said. “There’s no sun. No wind. I think I want to go to a college where the matches are indoors.”

She is considering Virginia, New York University and Washington.

“I just want to try something new for four years,” Bailey said. “I’ve lived here my whole life. I’m ready for a change.”

Notes

The individual quarterfinals will follow round-of-16 play today. Semifinals and finals will be Friday, also at the Racquet Club of Irvine, beginning at 9 a.m. . . . Mater Dei junior Melissa Esmero, who defeated Bailey in the South Coast League singles final, will probably be seeded first or second in the singles draw. Esmero is the top-ranked girls’ 16 player in Southern California.