University of Minnesota Athletics
Fresh Faces: River Hart
9/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
The University of Minnesota women's tennis team has just one lone freshman this season, River Hart. Hart joins the Gophers and competed for the first time this past weekend at the annual Gopher Invitational where she wrapped up a runner-up finish in the top flight.
Gophersports sat down with the newcomer to learn a little bit about her first few months on campus.
Gophersports.com: How does someone from the Bahamas end up in the Twin Cities?
River Hart: "I was playing in an event called the Orange Bowl, and former coach Chuck Merzbacher was watching me play that match and I had a really long, competitive match. Shortly after that he contacted me asking if I wanted to come and telling me about the University of Minnesota. I looked it up, and obviously, this school is amazing. The campus is amazing, the academics are great and the athletics department has a lot going for it right now. I came on a visit, fell in love with the place, and fell in love with the team, they were all really nice and the facilities were great. So, I signed and here I am!"
GS: Why and how you started playing tennis?
RH: "I started when I was three years old. Both of my older sisters were played tennis, and as I saw them playing, I knew I wanted to be like them. So, all three of us played for many, many years. We would travel, we went to some academies for tennis. They both ended up stopping around age sixteen, but I continued."
GS: How does someone go to the Bahamas to Spain to Florida?
RH: "My family moved around a lot. My parents just wanted us to see the world. Every summer we'd go to France or Spain. That's how we found the tennis academy there. They would put us in the academies just for the summer. Then three or four summers went by and we loved it there and wanted to move there so we did. We then lived in Florida and I trained at the academy there."
GS: In your own words, describe your brand of tennis.
RH: "I would describe myself as a very competitive person. I don't give up. I don't give up no matter what. I like to play consistent, I don't like to miss from the baseline but I would like to play aggressive."
GS: Is your brand of tennis influenced by anyone?
RH: "The consistency is something that I think was taught when I was young, if you're in trouble, play back deep. That's something that they teach in Spain, I lived there for four years. The clay court tennis in Spain makes you kind of grind it out. The aggressive part, I think would come from just my personality."
GS: What are some differences in tennis in places you have gone to?
RH: "Well I trained in Florida for four years at an academy and they had a sister academy in Barcelona. The system was pretty similar in both those places. The Spanish system teaches you to play consistent and to rally through the balls and just to make as many shots as you can. The way you guys set it up with the matches was really cool as well. Because normally, having coaches come up on the court and talk to you during matches is something I'm not used to at all. So, having that was really cool."
GS: What did you think about your play at the Gopher Invitational and the competition?
RH: "I am really happy with how I played. I felt really comfortable, to be honest, to be playing here and have the coaches and the team supporting me, I really enjoyed it. I played against South Dakota and NC State and all the matches, I thought, were really competitive and I enjoyed all of them. It was a good experience so I'm happy with how my career has started here."
GS: What are your expectations this year?
RH: "I'm really excited to start the season and to begin. I'm not sure what Catrina will do with the lineup but wherever I play I will play my hardest so I'll be happy wherever. I think the team did really well to prepare this year, everyone competed really well so I'm excited to see how we do when the season starts."
GS: Tennis players often get a chance to meet a lot of people, have you played anyone notable?
RH: "I qualified for the ITF 25k in Florida after I won a tournament to qualify. In the first round I played against Michelle Larcher De Brito. She was the top seventy-five and she has beaten Maria Sharapova and took Serena Williams to three sets. I was super excited because I got to play her in the first round. The first set she killed me, 6-0. The games were close, so I wasn't mad with how I was playing. The second set, I was up 4-3 and I thought I was going to win. I had a chance but I lost the set 6-4. That's a match I remember because I played really well against a great opponent.
GS: Explain to somebody who might not know about how tough tennis is both mentality and physically.
RH: "For the physical part, I think it is really important to eat right before, or thirty to forty minutes before so you have energy starting. When I was playing these matches [at the Gopher Invite], they were really long matches. The main thing I think for the physical I think it fitness. Since I've been here we have been doing a lot of sprinting, it has helped me so much. Mentally, having a coach there is really nice because they get to calm you down after every break and talk to you. I can't get angry at myself and thinking about that past because I just won't be able to focus. I think just to try to let things go is important to remember while playing."
GS: You were a pretty quiet player, but some of your opponents weren't. How do you handle playing an opponent that is vocal?
RH: "The girl I played against from NC State was very loud. I honestly, just tried to ignore her. I thought, if that's what she needs to do to relieve her stress, she can do it. It didn't really bother me too much and it kind of made me want to be more competitive with her because I felt like she was really trying so then I was like okay, I need play my best too."
GS: Living in tropical areas most of your life, have you experienced a Minnesota winter?
RH: "No, I've never really seen snow. I've seen it from an airplane, but that is about it. I have many sweaters for now, I'll have to get a parka or a coat. I'm excited to see how I'll handle it. I think I'll like the winter here because I like the cold which is weird because I've grown up in places where it has been super hot."
Players Mentioned
