By Kye Berger
Coming in as a freshman, nobody would’ve seen him as a potential varsity athlete, not even himself. But his story proves hard work often will beat pure talent.
“To think that he would be a full-time varsity player at No. 2 singles, when I was looking at him in 7th or 8th grade, I would say that would be a long shot,” Delta Eagles head tennis coach Tim Cleland said about senior Owen Cupp.
And after a long, hard journey to make it where he is today, shocking everybody including himself, Cupp has come to the end of his high school tennis career.
Cupp agrees he faced long odds to make varsity when he first began high school tennis.
“I probably would have thought you were crazy,” Cupp said, “because I started out just hitting the ball and sometimes it landed out, sometimes it landed in, sometimes It flew over the gate.”
But for the next four years he outworked nearly every tennis player in the Delta program, eventually earning his No. 2 singles varsity position.
“He had to work really hard and be on the court for hours and hours and hours and days and years to achieve the success that he’s had,” Cleland said.
Cupp played part-time varsity his junior year and then lost 30 pounds prior to his senior season so that he could be in better shape and have more endurance.
“It takes a lot to be able to run on the court for three hours and then do it two more times,” Cupp said, explaining the difficulty of playing three matches in one day in a Saturday invitational.
Cupp has been playing tennis since he was six years old, but never fully got into it until he started going to Tim Cleland’s tennis camps that he runs every summer.
Tennis has been more to Cupp than just a game. It has given him relationships and memories with other players.
“It’s taught me that I have to work hard to get what I want or get to where I want in life,” Cupp said. “It’s impacted my confidence. I definitely started out a little shy, a little guy on the court my freshman year, and got a lot of confidence talking to the people on the team.”
Cupp always struggled with his confidence growing up, but tennis and his welcoming teammates helped him substantially.
“I’m a lot more confident,” Cupp said. “I can actually have conversations with people. I used to just sit and stare at people.”
This has helped Cupp become somebody that peers and teammates love to be around,
“Owen is a leader in multiple categories. He’s always trying to put smiles on the younger kids’ faces and is trying to make everybody feel welcome,” sophomore No. 2 varsity doubles player Tyce Dishman said.
Cleland added: ”He does a great job of reaching out to the younger players as well. There’s nobody that he wouldn’t hit with or interact with but at the same time he could step up and play at a high level.”
Cupp plays at his own pace and level. He isn’t your normal No. 2 varsity singles player, but instead has his own unique style and way of playing.
“Most people have one style that they play, but he can bounce back and forth between those styles,” Cleland said. “He can literally hit a serve 110 mph or he can hit a serve 20 mph. And he does both regularly.”
Cleland also said, “Some days you just never know what you’re going to see, but one thing that’s constant is his effort and his desire to win.”
The Eagles lost 3-2 in the regional championship against Noblesville, ending their season. Cupp finished with a 14-12 record at No. 2 varsity singles and ended with a career varsity record of 18 wins, 18 losses.
His career came to an end with the biggest victory of his life. In the regional championship match on Oct. 9, he defeated 18th-ranked Noblesville’s Zane Panning 6-2, 6-4.
“He worked his tail off for four years and longer to even have the right to play that match,” Dishman said. “And I think out of anybody that was on the court that night he wanted it the most and deserved it the most.”
Dishman has known Cupp since around fifth grade and said he never really noticed Cupp on the courts when he was younger, and if he did notice him, it usually wasn’t for something all that good.
“That’s why his transition was so special,” Dishman said. “He’s grown as an athlete tremendously. He’s really put forth effort. You can look and see the vast improvements.”
Senior James Root agreed and emphasized on the amount of hard work Cupp put into the sport.
Root said the biggest thing Cupp taught him was to be confident and to play his own game, not caring about what others thought.
“If there’s one person on the team that has put in the work day in and day out, mornings, nights, absolutely any chance that he can, Owen would,” Root said. “So everything that he achieved or earned he 100% deserved and worked for.”
