Alex Angus: One Of State’s Best
story by jeff whiten
Alexander Lauson “Alex” Angus is one of South Carolina’s top tennis
players, but don’t take our word for it. He has the resume to prove
it.
Ranked as the No. 15 player in the Palmetto State, the
Beaufort High School senior has a school-record 112 wins, a team MVP
award and has been all-region three straight years after playing high
school tennis for the first time as a seventh grader.
There’s more.
Alex has two region titles, a region player-of-the-year award and
his stirring run through the consolation bracket to a sixth-place
finish at the 2015 South Carolina High School League state tennis
tournament in Cayce earned him a spot on the All-State team. Alex has
also won a number of United States Tennis Association tournaments.
And there’s still more, because Alex also is no slacker away from
the tennis court.
He’s in the top 16 of his class and recently served as a junior
marshal, an honor given to members of the junior class with the
highest academic standing. Alex also has been a continual presence on
the BHS honor roll and belongs to the National Honor Society. Oh, his
GPA? It’s 4.7. Lifetime.
No wonder area newspapers called Alex “the total package” in
naming him their 2015 tennis player of the year.
Early start paying off
Tennis began early and quite naturally for Alex, the son of Larry
and Jennifer Angus and longtime pupil of BHS tennis coach David
Reidmayer. Larry is a tennis pro, which Alex notes gave him “a really
big advantage when it comes to practicing and lessons.”
But that’s getting ahead of the story a bit.
“I started playing tennis on and off with my parents when I was
about 7. When I was 10, I started doing the USTA leagues with Coach
Reidmayer. Then, in seventh grade, I played high school tennis for the
first time,” Alex said. “About ninth grade I started taking it more
seriously, playing outside of high school tennis. I began entering
tournaments on the weekend and playing with my dad nearly every day.”
While the added focus on tennis obviously paid off, Alex is a
gifted athlete who also used to play baseball and sail. “But baseball
is currently nonexistent and my sailing has gotten less and less as I
devote more and more time to tennis.”
Still, unlike athletes who consider their sport as either the
reason to exist or as a means to an end, Alex seems to see tennis for
what it is. Important, yes. But it’s not the only thing on Alex’s
agenda.
“I’d love to go pro, but that is still far off in the future and
there is much work to be done before I can really even think about
it,” he said. “My more short term goal is to play college tennis. A
scholarship would be ideal, but not a necessity. Most of the colleges
I’ve been looking at are the NESCACs (New England Small College
Athletic Conference), which are Division 3 schools. They don’t give
out scholarships, so now I’m trying to make the difficult decision
between attending a school with better academics that isn’t
necessarily my first choice tennis wise, or one that offers
scholarships and higher-level competition, but not quite as strong
with academics.”
Whatever college Alex attends, he plans on majoring in
engineering or biology. And at some point, there’s this, the dream of
a life spent on water: “When my competitive tennis playing days are
over, I plan to buy a sailboat and travel.”
That’s in the future, however. The present is another shot at a
state title. The present is what it is in large part because of Larry,
whose son says he probably wouldn’t have become a tennis player
without having a tennis pro for a father.
“Without him I think it’s unlikely that I would have chosen
tennis,” Alex said. “As I got older and it was time to choose between
baseball, tennis and sailing, tennis was the obvious choice because I
enjoyed the individuality of it and the time I would get to spend with
my dad.”
The sport as it applies to Alex
The popularity of tennis in the United States has had its ups and
downs over the years, and in the South, where football is king, it’s
often almost an afterthought, a nonrevenue sport that draws few
participants or spectators and not much interest. But as anyone who
has ever picked up a racquet knows, tennis is a physically demanding
and mentally challenging sport.
In short, it ain’t easy to play. It’s even harder to play well.
“I think of tennis as chess with a racquet,” Alex says. “I enjoy
the mental challenge of figuring out what is not working with my game
or what I can do better. Every match is exceptionally unique, even if
you’ve played your opponent 100 times. The variability in conditions,
surfaces and formats makes tennis one of a kind. It is also a lifelong
sport. I never plan to stop playing tennis.”
Alex names the greats of the day as his tennis idols: Roger
Federer, Rafael “Rafa” Nadal, Novak Djokovic. But Alex also admires
players such as David Ferrer and Gilles Simon.
“Similar to me, they aren’t as large in stature and must rely on
consistency, endurance, speed and patience to outlast or outmaneuver
their opponents,” Alex said.
And that’s the way he plays. “My goal every time I play a match
is to find my opponent’s breaking point,” Alex said. “The point at
which their game starts to fall apart and mine accelerates. Whether it
be mentally or physically, every player reaches a point where they can
no longer put the ball in play.”
Alex also uses the heat to his advantage. “I take advantage of
hot and humid South Carolina conditions and make my opponent work as
much as possible, running all around the court to the point of
exhaustion.”
To do that means Alex has to be able outlast his opponent, and
that means he has to be in shape.
“A big part of my physical game has been diet-related. For about
a year, I have been on a gluten free, processed food avoiding diet,
which I feel has really elevated my mental capacity and physical
capabilities,” he said. “There is a lot of confidence in knowing that
you can outlast your opponent on the court.”
He outlasted five at the state tournament after falling 6-4, 6-3
to No. 3 seed Scott Cameron in the opening round. But the closeness of
that match lit a fire under Alex, who admitted to pre-match
butterflies that must’ve felt like bats after he learned he’d drawn
Cameron.
“I was playing the third seed, who I had lost to earlier that
year fairly easily,” Alex recalled. “I thought my chances of doing
well went out the window right then.”
Instead, the tough loss to the No. 3 seed gave Alex a shot in the
arm. “When I looked at my consolation draw, I realized I had a pretty
good shot at making all-state. So I braced myself for some long tough
matches and just ended up winning five in a row against some tough
players until I found myself in the consolation finals, which I ended
up losing, but still played pretty well. It was a great experience and
opportunity to show what I’m a capable of.”
Beaufort High AD Linc Lyles, who attended the tournament, said
Alex’s performance at the state tournament blew him away.
“Alex nearly turned the whole tournament upside down before it
barely began,” Linc said of Alex’s first-round loss. “After you lose,
they put you in a consolation bracket and that is a very competitive
rest of your day. You now have 16 guys who are hungry to prove they
belong. Mix in 90-degree heat, hard courts, cramps, fatigue and just
plain old fashioned sweat and you have the makings of grueling
competition. If you fail to win, you go home, season finished.”
Alex didn’t go home. Alex thrived. Now, he’s already looking to
next spring and getting back to finish what got started.
“Next year, I hope to do some damage in the main draw,” he said.
Zen and the art of tennis
As this story winds down, we note here it appears nobody
motivates Alex like Alex motivates Alex.
“There’s nothing I can remember anyone saying that really
inspired me,” he said. “I find that the most motivational things for
me come from my own thoughts and experiences, on and off the court.
They are the things that I can truly own and understand. People can
say things to try and help you, but for it to make any impact you must
take it apart, experience it for yourself and put it back together for
yourself. Then it becomes innate and truly part of who you are and
what you do.”
Which, in Alex’s case, is a 16-year-old with a wide range of
interests. He sails, and draws and reads – Alex lists “The Goldfinch”
as his favorite read — and listens to music. He’s also building a
tree platform in his backyard, and enjoys hanging out at the beach,
kayaking, hiking, biking, traveling and spending time with friends or
attending concerts. In that latter regard, Charleston-based Brave Baby
is one of his favorite indie rock bands.
On the subject of favorites, note Alex’s favorite teacher at BHS
is Mr. Charles Holbrook. “There is not a more smooth, generous,
well-intentioned, former Mayor-AP History teaching man on the face of
the planet. He is someone I strive to be more like.”
Finally, you rarely get anywhere on your own, even if you’re one
of the best tennis players in South Carolina. Those who’ve helped get
Alex to the cusp of a run at a state tennis title are three: Mom, Dad
and Coach. They’re who Alex listed when asked who’s been most helpful
in his life.
“My mother, for taking me to numerous tournaments and supporting
me without fail or complaint,” Alex said. “My dad, for teaching me
tennis, character and life skills along the way. And Coach Reidmayer,
for being like a third parent, always someone to talk to, laugh with,
and for keeping my life organized for me.”
