Lions’ Andrade is Boys Tennis Player of the Year

Published May 25th, 2008

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

Enrique Andrade was not going to join the Olympic Heights tennis team, no matter how much Coach Dave Bordonaro tried to convince him.

“I didn’t think that everyone was going to come out and I didn’t think it was worth it because it was high school tennis,” Andrade said. “And then I realized that it could help me out for college, and that if I won states, it would help me. So I did it.”

Bordonaro, who had coached tennis in California and New York prior to moving to Florida, had been lured out of retirement last year by Olympic Heights athletic director Karla Blefary.

And he knew he wanted Andrade on his team.

“I knew he was a player, he was very competitive,” Bordonaro said. “I told him the whole goal was to represent the school.”

Now, two years later, Andrade said it’s one of the best decisions he’s made yet in his young life.

The Lions star compiled an 18-1 record this season at No. 1 singles, and he won the Class 2A state championship for the first time, realizing the goal he and Bordonaro had set for him two years ago.

The triumph was as much a victory for Bordonaro as it was for Andrade, who had the reputation of being uncoachable before hooking up with his Heights mentor.

“I treated him like a man,” Bordonaro said of his winning approach with Andrade, who said of Bordonaro, “He understands me really good. We’re very similar to each other, so when you have a person like that behind you, you can’t really go wrong.”

Where Bordonaro was most helpful to Andrade was in the mental aspect of the game.

A year ago, Andrade lost in his semifinal match in the Class 2A singles tournament, and his anger was evident.

“When he did have a bad match he would just take a walk,” Bordonaro said. “When we tried to do was take that competitiveness and turn it into a strength.”

In this year’s semifinal against No. 1 seed Eugene Dolgovykh, Andrade had the chance to test that mental fortitude, as he lost the first set 6-1.

In the past, Bordonaro said Andrade would have crumbled, and the match would have been over right there. But the new Andrade flashed back to a conversation the two had in preparation for this season.

“I just remembered what he said, it’s just keep your head in the game,” he said. “I know that I can keep up with any one of these kids, no matter what. So that’s all I did. I stayed mentally strong, and just pulled it off.”

What followed was a virtuoso performance, as Andrade won the last 12 games of the match and routed Dolgovykh, 6-0, 6-0 to advance to the state final, where he beat Gulliver Prep’s Christopher Jackman 6-3, 7-5.

“Just pure happiness,” Andrade said of the aftermath of the state final. “From the beginning of this year I said I was going to come, win all my matches, come to states. I didn’t come to mess around, I came to win.”

Andrade’s father, Enrique Sr., is a tennis pro at the Whitfield Country Club, and he was the No. 1 player in Ecuador for several years.

Enrique Jr. didn’t start playing the sport until age 8, but by 12, he was already entering tournaments.

“He’s helped me the whole way,” Andrade said of his father.

As for Andrade’s playing style, Bordonaro said, “He has every stroke. He not only has it, he utilizes it.” And Andrade also has the speed to cover the court, with Bordonaro adding, “he’s a flash.”

Though Bordonaro is thinking of retiring to his home in Naples, and Andrade is moving on to Lynn University, the two will continue to work together.

Enrique Sr. and Lynn coach Mike Perez go back 22 years, since they worked together as tennis pros. (Perez could not comment on Andrade because of NCAA rules.)

And after college, Andrade said he’d like to follow in his father’s footsteps. Enrique Sr. played at the professional level and even represented Ecuador in the Davis Cup.

“I want to go farther, maybe one day play for the U.S. Davis Cup team and go pro,” he said.

It’s a sure thing that Bordonaro will be following his progress every step of the way, helping his protégé along.