OhioTennisZone.com Interview
MONDAY,
OhioTennisZone Interview of Gahanna's Brandon Carpico
The first interview of the season is with Gahanna's Brandon Carpico. Carpico was the D1 State Singles Champion in 2021 as a sophomore and he was a finalist in 2022. He will be the guy to beat at States this year if things go as planned in Sectionals and Districts.
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Carpico at States '22 - Click to enlarge |
It is no surprise what his goals are. "To win states first and foremost. I also want to complete a perfect season, which I am on pace to do. I just have to keep it up. I am also on pace to break Gahanna Lincoln's all time record in three years instead of four." (2020 was the COVID year.)
While he did play other sports (soccer, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse), he stayed with basketball until high school and then he focused on tennis. "I started playing [tennis] when I was 7 years old. My mom brought home a driveway tennis set for my sister and I to play. I fell in love with it and quickly moved to hitting off the garage, I was soon placed in tennis lessons."
Most great juniors tend to start with a high ranking and continue with it throughout their junior careers. Carpico's rankings are picking up steam. His TennisRecruiting.net national ranking was 108 in 2020 and now it is a very impressive 29. He has a UTR of 11.85. Click for Carpico's UTR over the last six years.
He is staying in Columbus for his college degree. "I selected THE Ohio State University. I picked OSU because it was a perfect balance between athletics and academics. I want to go into aviation and they have a top 3 program for aviation in the country. The tennis obviously speaks for itself. It is an incredible program and it was my dream school from the get go. I was considering Oklahoma, Auburn, and UCLA."
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Behind the yoke - Click to enlarge |
His aviation career has already started. He has 25 hours of flying experience and he has flown "solo". He primarily flies out of the Fairfield County airport. The photo of Carpico in the plane, where he is either parked or flying extremely low, is courtesy of his dad.
Not surprisingly, Carpico's father, John, is a pilot for the Ohio Department of Transportation. He can fly jets, turboprops, and helicopters. His mother, Susan, is a nurse anesthetist. His sister, Hayley, just finished her sophomore year at Ohio University where she is studying to be a nurse. Here is a nice family photo which I took when Brandon was recognized as a top junior by the Greater Columbus Tennis Association in 2021.
Carpico is an OTZ-approved math-science guy. "I loved doing science experiments in school and finding new things was always super interesting to me." He took AP courses in History, Psychology, Government, and Comparative Politics. He is not just interested in tennis. "I am a part of my school's TV program and I am also a part of my school's show choir. I sing and dance."
As for his favorite shots, "I love my forehand and my volleys. My forehand is my weapon and it is the shot I can use to win points in any scenario. I love being at the net, even when I was seven years old, I'd get lobbed all the time but I always loved being close to the net so my volleys have gotten good. I joke about it, but my tweener is world class. My [private] coach, Chase Buchanan says "I have the best tweener he's ever seen". It is unclear if Ohio State Coach Ty Tucker will fully appreciate this tweener.
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Carpico at 2021 States - Click to enlarge |
He has also worked on other shots and other parts of his game since his last States. "One of the improvements from last year is my backhand. It's become a more offensive shot like my forehand is. Another one of the big improvements that I have made from a year ago is the improvement on my physicality. I've spent more time in the gym getting stronger and more flexible which has helped with injury prevention and movement. The biggest improvement however is the mental aspect. I've always fought really hard but I've gotten much better at managing the frustrations on court from a year ago." Carpico's serve clocks in at 120mph.
After high school tennis ends, he will be taking summer classes at Ohio State so that he can begin hitting with the OSU team. He will compete at the USTA Boys National Championships at Kalamazoo, but he will not be playing the Midwest Closed, which he won last year in both singles and doubles (with Ben Pomeranets).
It is a OTZ requirement that interviewees say something (really, just anything) positive about OTZ. Carpico shares, "I always look forward to seeing the results from my friends around the state. In the beginning of the year I am always interested in seeing your state rankings for the top players in the state."
Why play high school tennis? "I love being on a team. Tennis can be such a lonely sport sometimes at the big USTA tournaments, so being on a team is a great experience. My best friends joined the team this year and it makes it a lot more fun."
The State tournament actually begins this week as the Sectional tournaments kick into gear. Carpico is seeded #1 at the Upper Arlington Sectional. Best of luck!
