Steven Benedict is that guy.
The Hazelwood Central senior is the tennis player you don't want to play. He's not the most polished competitor you'll ever see, but he gets to everything you hit and returns it.
That's how he was able to frustrate and wear down McCluer North's Josh Papes Saturday in the No. 1 singles final at the Suburban North Conference Tournament at Forestwood Park. Benedict, a 6-1, 6-2 winner, was like a backboard that Papes never could sneak a shot past.
"I thought it was going to be a lot closer than it was," said Benedict. "I felt like my semifinal match was harder than that."
Indeed it was. Benedict topped McCluer's Collin Brennan 6-1, 6-4 in the semis. That set up a rematch with Papes, who had beaten Benedict 7-5, 6-0 last year in the No. 1 finals in the same tournament.
However, buoyed by the No. 1 seed which he earned thanks a lot to a win over Papes earlier this year, Benedict overwhelmed the Stars standout Saturday.
The first set wasn't close. Papes held serve two straight times after losing the first two games in the second set to make the second set closer – he was down 2-3 at that point – but Benedict won the last three games to improve to 11-1 on the season.
"I felt like I was pretty consistent with my strokes," said Benedict. "I didn't have problems with double faulting. I made him make his own mistakes."
Papes got aggitated about some line calls Benedict made at the end of the second set and refused to talk after the match. His coach. Larry Noel, also declined to comment.
"It's an honor game," said Hazelwood Central assistant coach Josh Martin. "They're going to call it as they see it. You've got to respect his call. If not, there are things you can do to bring line judges in. Steven asked him if he wanted to bring in a judge. What was the score – 6-1, 6-2? I'm not sure calls had a whole lot to do with that score.
"Papes is a talented kid who's got all the shots," Martin added. "He moved Steven all around. He does a lot of good things. But Steven doesn't make a lot of mistakes and gets the ball back."
Benedict teamed up with Karl Faust to win the No. 1 doubles competition at district last year and advanced to state. This year, he hopes to win a district title as a singles player although Papes and others will be standing in his way.
"It's going to be hard," Benedict said. "Our district is not that bad. The other district is Parkway North and Parkway Central and they've got some solid players."
