University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Austin Smith
May 06, 2015 | Men's Tennis
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- Austin Smith and the Georgia men's tennis team are getting ready for the start of the NCAA tournament, which begins for the eighth-seeded Bulldogs on Friday against Winthrop.
Smith, a first-team All-SEC pick, has played the top three singles spots in the Bulldogs' lineup. The junior and his doubles partner, Ben Wagland, are ranked No. 1 in the country and are the top seeds in the NCAA doubles draw, which automatically earns them All-America honors.
Georgia's men's and women's teams are hosting first- and second-round matches this weekend at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Before that gets going, Smith was nice enough to sit down for a quick chat:
Frierson: Georgia has had to live with that 4-2 loss to Texas A&M in the finals of the SEC tournament for a couple of weeks now. How ready are you guys to play again and really put that behind you?
Smith: We're ready. I think in a way, as much as it hurt, I think we're making it into a positive. After that everyone was obviously very disappointed and it's made us hungrier for NCAAs, really.
Frierson: You and Ben are 15-2 together and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA doubles draw -- what makes you guys so good?
Smith: I think the one of the things that sticks out to me the most, and I've said this before, is being a righty and lefty in doubles (Austin is the righty) is a huge advantage, I think. He has a great serve, great volleys and I feel like I'm pretty confident in my returns.
One of the main things is, with the no-ad play (used during the regular season but not the NCAAs), we just took our chances. I feel like we would just put in on the line more than other people. I think that was a difference for us. There were at least four matches where we were down match points or the other guy was serving in the 'breaker to win the match, and we were just staying in it and going for our shots and just doing what we do. It's just worked out and things are clicking.
Frierson: You started the year playing with Eric Diaz at No. 2 doubles and Ben was with Paul Oosterbaan at No. 1. Are you surprised at how quickly you two clicked and became pretty close to unbeatable?
Smith: I feel like Ben helped me a lot. He played (at No. 1) his first two years and was a two-time All-American already, whereas I didn't really know what to expect at No. 1. I knew it would be a little bit better but I didn't know how big a leap it was going to be. And Ben was kind of like: Dude, it's not any different. Just trust yourself and play.
He just said a couple of little things that helped me and I gained confidence after the first match, and things have just kind of rolled since.
Frierson: You grew up a little more than an hour from here, in Cumming, Ga., which doesn't exactly seem like a hotbed for high-level tennis. How did you get started in the sport?
Smith: My dad's a tennis coach, so from the time I could walk there were racquets around me. As soon as I could walk my dad would bring me to some lessons to see if I enjoyed it, and I did. As I grew up he would say, "Austin, you want to come with me?" and I would say, "Yes." And I would go and play tennis all day and have fun and just enjoy it.
Frierson: Did you have anyone to play with besides your dad?
Smith: When you're little, it doesn't really matter. By the time I was 11 or 12, we started realizing this is something I wanted to take seriously and see where I could go with this. That's when my dad, who was an independent coach in Atlanta that would go neighborhood to neighborhood, he actually took a job at ITA, the International Tennis Academy in Atlanta.
He kind of started going to academies where I could train. So as I got older, he had to keep moving a little bit to where there were people my age that were good to play with. He took a couple of routes with his job that would help me.
Frierson: Was there a defining match or tournament when you realized that you could play at a really high level?
Smith: From the time I was like 12, I had pretty good success nationally; from the 12s and 14s and 16s. ... I remember in the 14s, I'd played a lot of tournaments in the 16-and-unders because we didn't want to travel a lot. My parents were like, stay in the South, play an age group up and play some better competition, instead of traveling all over the country and the world.
So it was the 14s of the Easter Bowl (USTA Spring Nationals) and I was playing Kris Yee, who plays for Vanderbilt now, and he was the 3 seed. Played him second round and was down (5-1 in the third set) and came back to win. I ended up making the semis there and that was probably one of the first times where I did really well in one of the big four national tournaments.
I was already into tennis a lot and I knew I was going to be serious about it, but I didn't know how good I could be. Especially playing age groups up, you don't really know how good you are compared to the best kids my age. Being able to make the semis and be in the top four, that was great for my confidence at a point where you're getting older and it actually matters, for college and everything.
Frierson: What's your food guilty pleasure, whether it's something at a local restaurant or available everywhere?
Smith: Chick-fil-A is always on the list. I crush Chick-fil-A. Other than that, I'm not a huge dessert guy, so really just the Chick-fil-A sandwich and fries. I love it. ... If I'm going to go to a local spot, it's definitely going to be Cali-N-Tito's. Great place and great atmosphere. I love going there.
Frierson: We all have those movies that we can watch over and over. We might even own the DVD, but if we see it on TV we're going to stop and watch, at least for a while. What are yours?
Smith: This is like a guilty pleasure movie that I love, "Happy Gilmore." I've watched that movie probably more times than I can count. I've been watching it forever and people joke with me, like is that where you get your attitude from? I get pretty fired up on the court and people think it's because of that movie.
I like stupid, funny movies, usually. After a long day, if I'm going to watch a movie it's going to be something like that, something I don't have to think much about. "Step Brothers," "Wedding Crashers," all those are great.
Frierson: If you could play any other sport for the Bulldogs, what would it be?
Smith: It would probably have to be football, even though I've never even played football. It's Georgia football and everyone loves it. You can't get away from it around here.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Follow him on Twitter: @TheFrierson and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
