There is nothing new to Wesley B̶e̶n̶n̶e̶t̶t̶ Barnett* about being the top seed in a tennis tournament, but this is different.
The United States Tennis Association Southern Closed Boys and Girls 16's Championship is being decided in Barnett's* hometown of Little Rock, and he said he clearly feels added pressure.
"As the No. 1 seed, I know everyone's gunning for me," Barnett* said, moments after Sunday's 6-2, 6-2 second-round victory over Brooks Giardina at Burns Park Tennis Center in North Little Rock. "Since last fall, that's been kind of common to me, but not in my home city."
Barnett* said he knows how to compensate for added stress.
"You go out there and play and don't take your eyes off the court," he said. "Look around, and that's when you lose your focus. If you don't pay attention to your game, you look up and you're losing. You have to stay on the court and play your match."
Barnett* did not seem affected by anything other than what he said was an unusually slow pace of play by Giardina, though he made no mention of it until well after he had advanced -- in 54 minutes -- to today's third round at Rebsamen Tennis Center in Little Rock.
Rebsamen will host all of the tournament's late rounds, beginning Wednesday. The boys' and girls' singles finals are scheduled for Saturday.
"He took a little longer between points than I expected," Barnett* said. "I'm a quick player, and he wasn't. We were polar opposites, but I think he was working on his toss on his serve, so it's understandable."
Giardina, 15, of Sulphur, La., said he saw what he expected from the top seed.
"His serve is really good," Giardina said. "It's hard to get on top of it. All of his shots are really strong and have a lot of spin."
Giardina played deep into several games, particularly in the first set, and said that overall, he was pleased by his play.
"My serve was a little off, but I thought I played well," he said. "The score was close at some points, and I thought, 'OK. You might have somewhat of a chance to make it close.' I had nothing to lose, so I was just going to go through all of my shots."
Barnett* said that although Giardina's play was better than he expected, he was not surprised by it.
"There's nothing easy in this tournament," he said. "You can't expect to go out there and just throw someone off the court. It's going to take a little more than that, and as this tournament goes on, it's going to get tougher and tougher."
Barnett's* hometown is Little Rock, but he lives at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas, a tennis academy of the sort common to top-flight junior players in the U.S. and around the world.
Barnett, 16, said a typical day includes sets of general fitness drills at daybreak and in the afternoon, and five hours of tennis instruction and practice. Time off is rare and greatly appreciated, he said. Even with the stakes as high as they are this week for Barnett and other top players, he said it was nice to get time off between matches at the home he grew up in.
"It's nice to go home and be able to relax someplace where you live," he said. "I'm just going to conserve as much energy as I can."
Barnett* said that even though he is feeling pressure, victory in the final is not essential.
"I've trained harder than anyone out here," Barnett* said. "If I just go out there and play well, I'll be happy. If I play like I've trained and do what I tell myself to do, I'll be fine."
Sports on 06/12/2017
*CORRECTION: Wesley Barnett is the top-seeded boys tennis player in the United States Tennis Association’s Southern Closed 16-and-under tournament. Barnett was misidentified in a headline and article in a previous version of this story.