Jacob Yates named All-Bi-City Boys Tennis Player of the Year

Columbus tennis player Jacob Yates said he wanted to lead the Blue Devils as a senior in 2017. Looking back on the season, there’s no doubt he did just that.

Yates was near-unstoppable in his second season as Columbus’ No. 1 singles player, posting a 19-3 overall record. He only suffered one loss in singles, falling to eventual Class 5A state champion Starr’s Mill’s Noah McPherson.

Yates helped Columbus capture the Region 1-4A title and reach the Class 4A state tournament semifinals. Thanks to his play, he has been selected as the All-Bi-City Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

“It’s a big honor,” Yates said. “I know there’s a lot of good No. 1s out there. I had a lot of wins but a lot of tough matches as well.”

Yates said he had watched the seniors who had came before him closely in an effort to learn what he needed to lead. He said there was a bit of a learning curve early on, but he eventually came into his own and soon relished the task.

“I enjoyed it, especially (playing with) Ford Cummings,” Yates said. “He’s been a senior with me, and we’ve been playing all four years. We both enjoyed stepping up to leadership positions and being able to choose uniforms, lead the team in practice and give pep talks before matches. It was really nice to lead the team and try to leave it with good things to come.”

Yates said a trio of moments stand out from his senior year. The first is the team’s annual trip to play at Jekyll Island, where team bonding and tennis play are practically one in the same. He also pointed out victories over LaGrange — which won Columbus’ region in 2016 — and Brookstone as extra special, considering the talent each team possessed.

“We came together as a team,” Yates said. “We had some really big wins against some solid opponents.”

Yates and the Blue Devils won the region this time around, setting themselves up with a top seed. Yates said it was important in that it gave the players momentum entering the state tournament. Having bragging rights over the locals teams just happened to be a cherry on top.

Columbus ultimately lost to North Oconee in the Elite Eight to end Yates’ high school career. He now plans to attend the University of Georgia, where his focus will be on academics while hopefully playing with the club tennis team.

Yates missed a state title run by two matches, but that doesn’t take away from his individual dominance or how much his final year as a Blue Devil meant to him.

“I thought it was nice to have a good run at the end,” Yates said. “We knew we were a solid team, and we proved ourselves throughout the state tournament. I liked how we came together, and a lot of guys stepped up toward the end of the season.”

This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Jacob Yates named All-Bi-City Boys Tennis Player of the Year."