Cavalier Corner

Mitchell Frank Dominated From The Moment He Set Foot On Grounds R BY MIKE SCANDURA ELENTLESS. THAT'S THE ad- jective Virginia tennis coach Brian Boland uses to describe Mitchell Frank, Cavalier Corner's Male Rookie of the Year. "Mitchell's success and his focus on tennis are in his head, heart and legs," Boland said. "Those are his greatest strengths. He prides himself on getting up every morning and developing those skills. MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR "When you're an opponent and walk on the court, one thing you're sure of is any point that you get you're going to have to earn it. He's relentless." Frank seconded his coach's evaluation. "[Relentless] is a good word to describe me on the match court and the practice court," he said. "I spend tons of hours practicing to give me the best shot to succeed. "On match court I run for everything and make the match as physical as possible. I play my best tennis when I have the mindset that I'm going to keep coming at you whether it's the first point or the last point." Frank did such a good job of "coming at" oppo- nents that he was ranked as the nation's No. 1 sin- gles player by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), before finishing the season No. 2; made his- tory in the fall of his first-year campaign by becom- ing only the fourth player ever to win the ITA All- American and ITA National Indoor titles in the same season; was voted the 2012 ITA National Freshman of the Year; earned All-America honors; was named to the 2012 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team; reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Champion- ship; earned ACC Academic All-America honors in 2012; and posted a 38-2 overall record. Given what the Annandale, Va., native accom- plished in the fall, one could make a case that he began the spring season with a proverbial target on his back. "What's incredibly impressive about Mitchell is he's willing to embrace the expectations and pres- sure and opportunities to develop and grow as a player and a person," Boland said. "Mitchell Frank is a mental giant. He loves competition as much as anybody I've coached. He loves competing and has a willingness to embrace it." Frank's ability to embrace competing served him well during a rookie campaign that produced great expectations. "It definitely was a challenge for me all season," Frank said. "It was really tough mentally. I was a very good junior [he was ranked as high as No. 5 in the world], but I never had been the No. 1 guy. To have the fall that I did put a lot of pressure on me. "It hurt me a little bit in the sense that I got fo- cused on the results and started judging myself on results instead of my game. Overall, it was a good learning experience to see the pressure that goes into it. In peoples' eyes, going to every match with they're expecting me to win was difficult. But I ma- tured a lot and it definitely helped me." Just ask Frank's opponents who invariably wound up on the short end of the score, especially in the ACC where he was 10-0. "I think one thing that helped was a lot of people that came on a court were intimidated and not ex- pecting to win," Frank said without the slightest hint of braggadocio. "It helped me in that sense because CAVALIER CORNER ◆ AUGUST 2012 ◆ 42

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