Austin Tennis Academy athletes and Lake Travis High School students Conor O’Rourke and Austin Mayo joined forces to claim the 4A State Championship Double’s crown this past week. The duo earned the Regional title in late April, and each of them has been working tirelessly to finish their long-time goal of taking the state title.

 

“As soon as the last ball was shanked out of bounds, Conor and I threw our racquets on the ground and gave each other a hug,” Mayo said.

 

 

The team faced Wichita Falls in the semifinals, on an extremely windy and humid day in Austin. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, Austin and Conor found themselves in a 1-4 hole in the second. They fought back to 4-4 before dropping the second set to send the match to a decisive third set for a spot in the finals.

 

“On the 10 minute break, we knew what we had to do, just play simple tennis, we knew we were better than them, we just had to prove it. We did exactly that and won 6-4,” Conor said.

 

 

In the state finals, the twosome matched up against a team from Montgomery. Conor and Austin jumped out to a quick 6-2, 5-1 lead, before their opponents won 3 straight games to make it 5-4. Conor and Mayo stopped their opponents’ momentum, winning the next game to take the state championship crown.

 

“We had a huge fan base in the stands, and that helped a lot with having energy, even after such an exhausting first day of play,” Conor said. “On the change over [at 5-4], we changed our shirts, and this made us feel fresh and new, which proved effective considering we won the next game.”


 

When asked what the state title means to each of them, both Conor and Austin brought up the other as the most important part of the accomplishment, as they have been playing along side one another since 12 years old.

 

“Being a state champion means a lot to me, because our names will be a part of history forever,” Conor said. “Only one team a year can hold the title, and to be able to be that team is awesome. But more importantly, it means a lot to share this experience with mayo.”

 

Mayo expressed his gratitude to his long-time friend for spending his senior year with him on the court.

 

“I am honored Conor wanted to play doubles with me his Senior year and being his friend for more than 10 years and to end it with a State title is a great accomplishment of our triumphs together,” Mayo said.

 

Both players expressed gratitude to ATA and the coaching staff for helping prepare them.

 

“I don’t think we could’ve won without the help of the ATA coaches and players,” Conor said. “Everyday at practice, Coach Newman put us in a match against fellow teammates, or in a doubles specific drill. Coach Newman wanted us to win the state title almost more than we did ourselves. This showed me what kind of dedication the ATA staff had towards us, and it definitely helped to achieve our goal.”

 

Austin expressed a similar sentiment.

 

“ATA was just as content on preparing us for our State Championship as LT was by giving us practice matches and drills which demanded our maximum focus and effort and it really brought out the best doubles players in us and helped our connection together on court grow,” Mayo said.