Ashland’s Max Freeman: Unbeaten on the Tennis Court

Growing up Max Freeman was involved in hockey, baseball, soccer and tennis, but by the sixth grade the Ashland native dropped three of the four sports and concentrated on becoming the best tennis player he could possibly be. It didn’t hurt that his father taught tennis locally.
“When my dad taught tennis at the local clubs, I just tagged along. When he was younger he played tennis, so I guess I just naturally took after him,” Freeman said. “Of the four sports, I felt that I was better at tennis and like the idea that I was fending for myself.”
In his first ever tournament he found himself on the short end of all three matches, but instead of getting discouraged he used the losses as motivation to get better, and by the time he was 14 he was participating in the Nationals in San Antonio, Texas. The Ashland racketeer captured wins in the first two rounds but was eventually eliminated in the third round.
“I just went into each match putting forth my best effort,” he said. “Although I lost, it was still a really good experience. It opened a lot of doors for me, especially seeing how other tennis players from around the country played.”
As a freshman playing number one singles for the Clockers, Freeman made it all the way to the semi finals of the State Individual Tennis Tournament where he lost to Cape Cod Academy’s Patrick Wyeth, the eventually champion. Going into the match, he knew what he was up against, but he didn’t let it bother him.
“That year Max hadn’t lost a match all season until the semi finals of the State Tournament,” Clocker Tennis Coach Mike Roman said.
Following the success he had in his freshman campaign, Freeman decided to step away from the court, at least on the high school level, until this spring.
“I had other commitments and couldn’t give 100 percent to the Ashland team,” he said. “This year I decided that I wanted to play one last time with the friends that I had grown up with while representing Ashland. I wanted to close it out the right way.”
Thus far the senior has found himself unbeaten on the tennis courts for Ashland and doesn’t really see any competition in his way. Dover Sherborn’s Max Sherman has been the only number one singles player that has pushed Freeman.
Returning for his senior campaign, Roman has seen a different athlete take the court day in and day out.
“He has been so dominate in the (Tri-Valley) League this year,” the Coach said. “His mental approach to the game is great and he shows that he’s a naturally pure athlete.”
As the season and his high school career on the Ashland tennis courts come to an end, the senior will be not be saying goodbye to his favorite sport. Freeman will be attending Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee come the fall where he will definitely find a tennis racket in his hands playing Division 1 tennis. Freeman has already seen what tennis is like in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) first hand.
“Having watched a match while I was visiting the school, it’s going to be much different playing college tennis than high school,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot more intense, but I’m excited. I hope that I can start my freshman year, but realistically it’s probably not going to happen as this is a tough program with a lot of good tennis players.”
Although his ultimate goal would be to play in the Vanderbilt tennis courts, Freeman said he’d be more than satisfied if he made the team and was watching and learning from the bench.