TACTO THURSDAY: Princeton High boys’ tennis player Tacto Yamada prepares to hit a backhand last week at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament. Last Thursday, junior Yamada won the third-place match at second singles at the CVC event which was held at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center. Yamada’s victory helped PHS place second in the team standings at the event behind champion WW/P-South. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)

By Bill Alden

After starring at first doubles for the Princeton High boys’ tennis team last season, Tacto Yamada has moved up to second singles this spring for the squad.

For junior Yamada, making the switch to singles has been a challenge.

“It is a lot different, having a partner and emotional support was crucial for me,” said Yamada. “For singles, there is none of it. It is just coach and you. It is the battle against your opponent and also yourself. I feel that is the biggest difference between singles and doubles play. I feel like I have gotten better in that sense.”

Last Thursday at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament, Yamada won those battles as he edged Max Wang of Princeton Day School 2-6, 6-1 (11-9) in the third-place match in second singles.

“I feel like I just needed to change emotion, I was trapped emotionally,” said Yamada, reflecting on rallying from losing the first set. “I wasn’t feeling really well. I talked to the coach (Sarah Hibbert) and I was like I feel like I can go forward. Maintaining consistency of the mental state was really important for me.”

In turning the tide, Yamada also made a strategic change. “Tactically, I was more aggressive,” added Yamada. “I came into the net more.”

As Yamada headed into the 10-point match tiebreak after the foes split the first two sets, he looked to maintain his aggressive approach.

“For a tiebreak, I feel like every point counts so I was focused on every single point and not caring about the score,” said Yamada. “Whatever happens, happens. Consistency was really important.”

PHS head coach Hibbert was proud of the way Yamada made things happen in pulling out the third place match as his victory helped the Tigers place second in the team standings at the event behind champion WW/P-South.

“Tacto had a bit of a rough start this morning,” said Hibbert, referring to Yamada’s 6-0, 6-0 loss to Saikrishna Siddesh of WW/P-North in the semifinal round of the tourney which was held at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center. “He wasn’t fully on his game but he was able to rebound really nicely in his third place match. After losing the first set, he was able to regroup and turn it around and fight through a really tough third set tiebreak to still take third place which was a good showing for him moving up from doubles.”

Yamada has also proven to be a fighter in the fall as he also stars for the PHS boys’ soccer team as a defensive midfielder.

“It is hard because you have to manage those two sports and also you have a lot of schoolwork,” said Yamada, explaining how he juggles his two sports. “So what I do during the summer is I play soccer and then during the winter I start to focus on tennis.”

With the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) team tournament coming up, Yamada believes his run in the CVC tourney will sharpen his focus for the state competition.
“I feel like I got a lot of experience in tournament play here,” said Yamada. “Today it is sunny out and it is kind of tiring, the heat is beating down. I feel like this is going help me to move through into states.”