Marsee led the area with a 4-2 record as Suwannee’s No. 1 player
LIVE OAK — It began with a family connection, but Matti Marsee’s inspiration on the court came from far away.
Playing tennis seriously since the second grade, it was Serena Williams that pushed Marsee, that motivated her to improve, to achieve more.
“Serena Williams was the coolest person ever to me,” Marsee said previously about her tennis inspiration, adding the sport is something she’s always done with her father, Dan. “She just made the sport big at the time. Having a female who dominated the sport gave me something to look up to when I first started.”
For good reason. Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the second-most all time and the most during the Open era, also winning 16 doubles or mixed doubles Grand Slam titles as well. Williams also has been the world’s top-ranked player for 319 weeks, including 186 consecutive weeks.
Now, Marsee is racking up some accomplishments of her own with the racket, including the Lake City Reporter’s Girls Tennis Player of the Year after leading Suwannee with a 4-2 mark.
But Marsee is still motivated to get better. There are more accomplishments left to achieve.
For starters, Marsee has her sights set on an individual district title. That title would bring another achievement with it: an automatic berth at the state tournament, something Marsee has not yet experienced on the court.
To get there as a senior next spring, Marsee knows there is still work to do. That work begins within.
“I feel like I can always improve no matter what area it is, but probably mostly the mental side of the game,” she said as the area where she can make the biggest stride. “Just how to handle it when I’m down or how to not relax when I’m ahead in the match.”
Suwannee coach Ben Thomas, who described Marsee as an “all-around great athlete,” agreed that handling the ebbs and flows of a tennis match is what is separating his top player from reaching her true potential and that shot at state.
“Not letting things get to her when the breaks go against her,” he said. “Keeping her head, staying focused on what she needs to do to win and not get carried away.
“To me, the mental game is I think where she needs the improvement.”
Marsee has already shown the mental strength to reach the pinnacle of high school sports in Florida. The LCR’s Lifter of the Year for girls weightlifting, she is a two-time individual state champion in that sport, which also requires the ability to mentally focus and avoid distractions.
Marsee, though, said the mental aspect of the two sports is not an apples to apples comparison.
“With tennis, you have so many chances and so much more can happen,” she said. “Where in weightlifting, it’s six lifts. Some you make, some you don’t. But tennis, you can be down and you can come all the way back up and win the match even if you have to play 100 points.”
That wouldn’t be a problem for Marsee, either, whose determination and hard work were among the qualities Thomas rattled off as her strengths. The qualities that are consistent in the recipe for success, whether on the tennis court, in the weight room or in life.
“Dedicated, hard-working, never takes a day off, never takes a break,” Thomas said of what makes Marsee the Bulldogs’ top player and the top player in the area. “Always working on getting better.
“She has physical talent to start with, she has a lot of natural physical ability. Attitude, hustle, hard work, competitor, she’s a big competitor, all those things added together sew up the complete package.”