Author: trevorthorpetravels

Owls’ Tennis Takes in BNP Paribas Pro Tennis Tournament

Laguna Blanca Tennis at Indian Wells Tournament 2014We got to watch some phenomenal tennis players at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden during the Saturday night and Sunday day sessions. Among the list of pros we saw in action were: Rafael Nadal, Stanislas Wawrinka, Thomas Berdych, John Isner, Fabio Fognini, Simona Halep, Dinara Safarova, Radek Stepanek, Leander Paes, Gilles Simon, Nikolay Davydenko, Ryan Harrison, Roberto Bautista-Agut and Julien Benneteau.

Here are some photos from the matches: Continue reading “Owls’ Tennis Takes in BNP Paribas Pro Tennis Tournament”

Laguna Blanca Tennis in the Desert

Laguna Blanca Tennis in Front of our Vacation RentalThe Laguna Blanca boys’ tennis team made the trip out to Palm Springs following our very close match with Redlands High School on Friday, March 7th. Here we are in front of our vacation rental, rented from Vacation Palm Springs. Featuring seven bedrooms, a pool, and a basketball court, we were very well accommodated!

After a leisurely morning the rental, the team headed out for a hike on North Lykken Trail, one of the more popular Palm Springs area hiking routes. Here’s what we saw: Continue reading “Laguna Blanca Tennis in the Desert”

Owls Beat Besant Hill 12-6, Build Toward Friday D4 Showdown with Redlands High School

Ben Furukawa Serves at New Laguna Blanca Courts

Doubles made a clean sweep of Besant Hill today, with the teams of Martin Barnick/Dalton Smith and Henry Farrell/Conrad Perry recording finish 3-0, while Phillip Hicks partnered with Thomas Sloan for two wins and a third with Max Mayrock. Continue reading “Owls Beat Besant Hill 12-6, Build Toward Friday D4 Showdown with Redlands High School”

Laguna Drops 9-9 Tie in Pre-Season Play v. D3 Malibu High Team

Laguna Blanca New Courts First Match

This was our first home game on the brand-new Laguna Blanca High School tennis facility. In fact, we hadn’t even practiced on it yet, so you can’t even really say we had home-court advantage today.

After losing to Malibu 15-3 last year (one of only two teams that beat us last season), we came agonizingly close to the win today, falling 9-9 with a game score of 69-74. I was, however, very impressed with the way we came out and competed. Still short-handed a few key starters and after losing to San Marcos High 14-4 on Thursday, we rose to the occasion and put on a good show for those in attendance. Continue reading “Laguna Drops 9-9 Tie in Pre-Season Play v. D3 Malibu High Team”

Leslie Allen Santa Barbara Open Tournament Recap: Coach Thorpe Loses Three-Setter in the Finals

Trevor Thorpe Leslie Allen Open Finals 2014

Over the weekend I had the rare opportunity to play a USTA men’s open tournament for only the second time in the last five years. I got a good draw and built on each win, stepping up my game as the opponents got more challenging, and by the end of the weekend I had won three matches and booked a ticket to the finals. Here’s the recap, including a play-by-play of the finals match, with photos courtesy of Les Morales Photography: Continue reading “Leslie Allen Santa Barbara Open Tournament Recap: Coach Thorpe Loses Three-Setter in the Finals”

Laguna Blanca Drops First Match of Season 4-14 v. San Marcos High

We knew going in that it would be tough to compete against a public school of 1,900 students with Tristan and Jack out with injuries, Kylan ineligible because of transfer rules, and Atty having to leave early to help continue the impressive Laguna run in CIF D6 Basketball Playoffs. Instead of focusing on what we didn’t have yesterday, I’ll focus on some things I saw that looked promising. Continue reading “Laguna Blanca Drops First Match of Season 4-14 v. San Marcos High”

Thorpe Tennis Video Series: Baseline Groundstrokes with Tristan Prinz

I have been working with Tristan Prinz for almost three years now and he’s getting to a really nice level at this point. He’s been on a roll in practice of late, and looks ready to make a big jump this year in high school play.

Here is some baseline rallying we’ve been doing to get him in rhythm and improve his court fitness. This video is also a great way to compare righty and lefty strokes, as I will be in the foreground a bit in the beginning before Tristan moves to that position.