NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat's Ryder Siegers returns a shot to opponent Hugh Currie during an Alberta Outdoor Junior Open U14 quarter-final match on Friday at Medicine Hat Tennis Club.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
There was only one local in action on Friday at the Alberta Outdoor Junior Open, and he didn’t go down without a fight.
While Ryder Siegers dropped his opening U14 boys quarter-final in a 6-0, 6-1 battle with Hugh Currie to kick off the provincial tournament at his hometown Medicine Hat Tennis Club, the Gas City product lost a handful of his games through deuces and says it was ultimately a positive learning experience.
“I felt like I was doing better, but I don’t really know,” he said. “I need to work on some stuff so I can get better and go to some more tournaments.”
The match was suspended for an hour due to rain in the second set, though the delay will not affect the weekend schedule.
Siegers – who won his lone game to open the second set – added his coaching staff at Medicine Hat Tennis Club have done a lot to help him both in terms of his mechanics and his mental game.
“They’ve helped me with my attitude, how I want to play and my play mentality,” he said. “My attitude used to be really bad and I used to lose a lot.”
Siegers added it’s great to be able to compete on his home court against some of the province’s best in his age group. Like many of Medicine Hat’s junior players, Siegers plays most of his local matches against older competitors.
“It was my first game with somebody my own age and he was really good,” said Siegers. “Kids my age move way faster and have more power on the ball I guess.”
Siegers will be one of five locals in action Saturday when he hits the court at 10:30 a.m. for a consolation quarter-final against David You.
Hatter Quinlan McElroy-O’Driscoll will open his U16 tournament at 10 a.m. against Connor Motherwell, while his sister Dannan McElroy-O’Driscoll will take on fellow local Libby Bourassa in a girls U18 match at 10:15 a.m. and Gas City product Brooke Pfeifer will face Sophia Vedar at 10:30 a.m.
The Alberta Outdoor Junior Open continues Saturday with matches beginning at 9 a.m., while championship play is scheduled to take place Sunday at Medicine Hat Tennis Club.
