LHS student serves first tennis championship

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Trevor T. McBride
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  

To the crowd, this was just a Saturday afternoon match between the best tennis stars from Department of Defense Dependents Schools-Europe. To the players, however, this was a mental game with a familiar opponent. From day one, Peter Kovats of Lakenheath High School knew the road to the championship ran through Fabian Sandrup Selvik of the International School of Brussels. This was their third meeting; this was the championship.

"I guess you could say it's a rivalry between us," said Kovats.

The Lakenheath High School sophomore left the city of Wiesbaden, Germany on Oct. 26 as the winner of the DODDS-Europe tournament.

Peter Kovats, Lakenheath, defeated Fabian Sandrup Selvik, ISB, 6-2, 6-3.

"I knew how he played and was able to adapt to outplay him twice during the season and finally in the last game in the tournament," added Kovats.

Because of Kovats, Lakenheath High School was represented at the European level of tennis for the first time.

"I've never actually won a big event like this," said Kovats. "After finishing in third place in last year's tournament, owning the title is a really big deal to me."

Kovats' father, Col. Peter Kovats, 48th Medical Group aerospace medicine chief, had high praise for his son.

"It's amazing to see how he steadily improves. He has excelled and successfully achieved his goals."

According to Col. Kovats, his son committed to tennis at 8 years of age.

"He first picked up a racket at about 5 years old, but once he gravitated towards that sport, you could tell he was naturally talented at it," Col. Kovats added.

Kovats reflected on what interested him to play tennis.

"I loved hitting the ball as a kid," Kovats said. "Growing up, I realized I had the skills to perform at a high level."

At the beginning of the year, Kovats said that his ultimate goal was to win the DODDS-Europe tournament. Now that he has reached that goal, he's looking forward.

"My short-term goal is to consistently play well in the remaining tournaments I have," said Kovats. "Long term, I am preparing for a camp in Florida."

Kovats plans to return to the United States to attend IMG Academy Bollettieri tennis school beginning this summer. The school's athletic program focuses on developing complete tennis players who have the ability to execute any stroke in any match situation.
The program in Bradenton, Fla. is guided by Nick Bollettieri, who coached 10 worldwide number-one ranked tennis players.

After spending his remaining two years of high school there, Kovats looks to emulate his idol Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player who holds the record for the longest consecutive weeks holding the world number-one rank.

"I love to watch how he plays," said Kovats. "He's the ideal player I base my game off of."

Looking forward, Kovats is humbly aware of his weaknesses.

"I would like to improve my serve by developing more of a rhythm," said Kovats. "But, I could always improve on everything in this sport."