Stratford’s Klyachkin motivated to do well
Stratford junior Liza Klyachkin has enjoyed a stellar high school tennis career.
After going 8-0 during the regular season in No. 1 singles, losing just one game during that stretch, Klyachkin reached the GISA individual GISA Class AAA singles championship match for the third time.
Still, there is a hurdle for Klyachkin to conquer. She has yet to win the individual state title, losing to Augusta Prep’s Brooke Stevens in this year’s final.
“It has been frustrating for me to be in the finals for three of the last four years and not to have won any of them, but there are a lot of great players in Georgia,” Klyachkin said. “I just have to keep working, and I know good things will happen.”
Klyachkin is The Telegraph’s All-Middle Georgia Girls Tennis Player of the Year.
Stratford head coach Jaime Kaplan said Klyachkin’s work effort is the key to what she is able to accomplish.
“Liza has a very high level of determination and discipline when it comes to tennis,” Kaplan said. “I could see the fire in her the first time I hit with her, and she was probably only about 12 years old then. She really loves the game of tennis, and it shows in her performance.”
Klyachkin, who is 5-foot-1, admits that she is at a disadvantage at times when playing against much taller opponents. But she said she turns that factor into a motivating tool.
In addition to working with Kaplan at Stratford, Klyachkin works with Craig Jones at Idle Hour Club.
“I am pretty much always smaller than who I am playing, and I think that’s why I practice so hard,” Klyachkin said. “I know that I can’t go out there and just pound winners like some of the bigger girls do. I feel like I have to be in better shape and just fight to the end and never give up. I know that if I want to reach my full potential, I have to work at it every day.”
The road to the elusive individual state title just might include a rematch with Stevens.
“I know that Brooke Stevens will be back next year, and she just kills balls,” said Klyachkin, who has plans to play tennis in college. “I lost to her in straight sets in the singles finals last year, but I split sets with her a week later. I know I just have to keep working hard and just enjoy my senior year, no matter what happens. I would love to get another chance at her, but that’s a long way off. I just want to keep working on my game and see what happens.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Stratford’s Klyachkin motivated to do well."