It’s intensity time for Carril

By Danny Horne
Skiff Staff

On every high school sports team there is that one person, male or female (whatever the case may be), who is responsible for such things like uniforms, equipment and the crucial water supply.

The other day, while watching the men’s tennis team practice, I found myself thinking about the person who was responsible for keeping track of our uniforms and some of the various equipment when I played high school baseball.

Those two were the real unsung heroes. However, never once did it cross my mind that they would turn into the best baseball players in the nation.

However, apparently anything really can happen.

When he was 19 he was masquerading as the team manager for the tennis team at Irving High School as a foreign exchange student. He had given up his pursuit of tennis that had made him so successful in his home country of Spain.

It’s funny to think that he went from team manager for a high school tennis team to quite possibly the best collegiate tennis player in the country. It’s not a move you would see any team manager make in any sport.

For the record, I did see Jim Bakken, now a graduating senior from the basketball team at Alabama, make the jump from team manager to eventual college athlete. The difference is that Bakken actually played eventually in high school and was by no means considered the best collegiate basketball player.

Senior Esteban Carril was described in an interview with the men’s tennis coach from Pepperdine as the best collegiate tennis player in the country — when he wants to be.

The key words are obviously, “when he wants to be.”

In other words, Carril has the uncanny ability to flip that proverbial switch and catapult his level of play far above that of his opponent. Whenever he loses a match, it should be considered an enigma, because there’s a chance he could have grabbed the win, if he had only flipped that switch.

Carril carries himself as if he really is the best player in college tennis. When he’s on, Carril exhibits an intensity that few players can match, let alone compete with.

In a match in the fall against junior Andy Leber of Texas-Arlington Carril fell behind early, became visually frustrated and proceeded to come back for the victory. At times, Carril’s fiery attitude rivals that of longtime American tennis legend John McEnroe, who was well known for his outbursts on the court.
Of course, it’s hard to argue with McEnroe’s style given his success much like it’s hard to argue with Carril and his style given the enormous amount of success he’s seen since arriving at TCU. This season alone, he’s climbed as high No. 4 in the country and currently stands at No. 8.

He help lead the Frogs to an 18-3 record, while going 23-7 himself, constantly playing out of the No. 1 singles slot.

The men’s tennis team has made its way to the conference championships in Fresno, Calif. Expectations are clearly high despite a recent loss to Southern Methodist. It’s hard to imagine Carril allowing another loss to SMU.

“Click.” There’s that switch.

Associate Editor Danny Horne is a senior broadcast journalism major from Carrollton.
He can be reached at (d.m.horne@student.tcu.edu).