For quite some time last school year, I came across Mr. Ballesteros as he was leaving school. More often than not, he’d say to me, “I gotta go to rehab.”
He had microfracture surgery on a bum knee and had to go through extensive physical therapy to get back to being close to normal.
Sunday was the first time in months Mr. B stepped back onto the tennis courts in a competitive environment. He was playing in the Bay O Vista Tennis Championships.
In the semi-finals, Mr. B and his partner outlasted a couple of hard-hitting college students from U.C. Davis as the match pit experience vs. youth. Experience prevailed on that one. And experience ended up cramping up after the match.
Few hours later, Mr. B and his partner came back for the finals against two very strong players. During the match, Mr. B sprained his ankle but continued to gut it out. He had come this far and was not about to throw in the towel.
Forced to serve for match point on a bad ankle, Mr. B pulled through and won the tournament championship on his first day back.
“It was a delight to win my first tourney back and quite a surprise,” said Mr. B. “After 4 months off the court with, my hopes were not set too high. My goal for the 2008-2009 season was to be ranked in the top 10 in Norcal and I achieved that ending the year with a #2 ranking in Men's 4.5 Doubles and a #10 ranking in 4.5 Men's singles. After having my surgery I feel confident that I can achieve this feat again.”
Mr. Ballesteros Career Highlights
Played Jr. Tennis in Hawaii- ranked 6th in boys 18 doubles and 11th in boys 18 singles in all of Hawaii
Played 4 years at Konawaena High School
Island Champs 3 years in a row
Team captain 2 years
College scholarship to Dominican
Captained 2 years
Ranked #11 in Naia Div. 3
Captained 2 years
Played overseas in Thailand and won a small tourney while teaching for 2 years at Rajabhat Thepsatri University
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