Jake Tavel never felt more nervous than one day under the South Carolina sun last summer.
There he stood in the dirt of Fort Jackson staring up at Victory Tower, which climbed 45-feet into the air. The drill called for him and his fellow National Guardsmen to walk up the tower and then rappel down on a rope.
Oh by the way, Tavel is afraid of heights.
“I was thinking, ‘I cannot do this,’” he said. “I was looking up at the tower from the ground, and said, ‘There’s just no way.’ But you just push through it. It was an experience.”
It was one of the more harrowing experiences during Tavel’s 10 weeks of basic training, which ran from the first day of his summer vacation until Sep. 7, when he returned for his senior year at Hamilton West.
After all that, returning a blistering serve or a crazy top-spin shot at the net didn’t seem so daunting. As Hamilton’s first singles player, Tavel had an 11-3 dual match record entering the May 20 regular-season finale. It is his best mark since going 9-7 as a freshman. He also qualified for the NJSIAA Individual Tournament for the first time since that year.
“He’s an exceptional kid,” said veteran coach Jim “The Mercerville Mole” Ditmars. “He’s got an all-around solid game from both sides – backhand forehand. He’s got a very dependable overhead, He covers the court extremely well and he’s got a very strong volley. He’s got the entire package.”
After his freshman year, however, he barely unwrapped the package for two seasons.
This came after making tennis his life growing up. Tavel was good enough to be ranked in the USTA Middle States Top 10 as a U-12 and U-14 player. But…
“I sort of lost my love for tennis a little,” he said. “I didn’t have that motivation to try and be as good as I was when I was younger.”
He opted for the National Guard in order to pay for college and to have military experience on his resume in his quest to become a detective. Tavel was pleasantly surprised to discover what sleeping in the woods, shooting guns, repelling from gas chambers and basically “testing yourself mentally and physically” could do for a guy’s tennis desire.
“It sort of restored the sense of resilience and kind of changed my mindset to how I used to think about tennis,” Tavel said. “I think that’s one of the big reasons I had a lot more success this year.”
Suddenly, he was back at the top of his game this season. And although Hamilton had just four players and was winless, Tavel enjoyed the season.
“The number two singles player (John Soganic) is my best friend, so we were able to talk through it,” Tavel said. “I convinced him to play. He’s a quick learner. Even though we only have a few players I still love going out there and playing with them. The team is really enjoyable to be around, including the coach.”
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Ironically, Ditmars didn’t think much of Tavel when he showed up as a freshman. Despite the fact he had been coached since elementary school by his dad, former successful Montgomery High coach Erik Tavel, Jake didn’t look like much of a player at 5-foot-4.
“He’s grown now (to 5-10) but he was a really small kid,” Ditmars said. “I always evaluate my kids on the first day of hitting with them, and I was like ‘Let’s see how this kid hits.’ After the very first ball I hit to him, I was like ‘Wow!’ He unloaded on his forehand. He made a believer of me on the first ball he hit.”
Good training had a lot to do with it.
“His dad was a great coach, his team won states a few times,” Ditmars said. “His brothers all played tennis too. That’s where Jake gets his tennis pedigree, from playing with those guys. His good background taught him most of what he knows.”
Tavel was so good as a freshman he immediately inherited the first singles slot, which is tough for one so young in a tennis-rich county like Mercer.
“He never complained about it,” Ditmars said. “He was willing. He embraced it and he made states. He was unseeded and played a very tough opponent in the first round.”
It was a bit of a roller coaster ride that first year.
“Parts of it brought up my confidence because I would win, other parts would demotivate me because I’m playing people 100 times better than me,” Tavel recalled. “They would serve harder than me. I couldn’t really get the ball back.
“I remember in the states playing a senior who was already committed to college and he knew what he was doing. It felt like a whole other world playing that guy.”
Up to that point Tavel was so enamored with the game he was intent on going pro. But by season’s end, he was burned out, “and I stopped caring as much,” he said.
Jake still played for Hamilton and slogged through his sophomore and junior years. But while at Fort Jackson, something clicked, and he texted Erik saying he wanted to get back into it. Over the fall and winter, the two played frequently and the results showed this season.
“He beat a couple tough opponents with Princeton Day School and Robbinsville,” Ditmars said. “The PDS match was fantastic to watch. A three-setter that went to the end in a tie-breaker. Same thing with Robbinsville. I know he was really pumped to make states. From the beginning of the year he wanted to get back there.”
And from the beginning of his high school career, he showed a tennis IQ that not many youngsters possess.
“He didn’t care about crushing the ball,” Ditmars said. “He’s a very smart player, he evaluates his opponent’s game, sees where they’re weak and strong. He avoids their strengths and attacks their weaknesses. He’s very sharp like that.
“When we have those crossovers during a match when I talk to the player, there’s not a lot I can say to him because he’s already figured it out. I just say ‘Keep it up kid, you’re doing the right thing.’ He’s such a pleasure to coach, such a great kid, such a coachable kid. I love to hit with him in practice, he keeps me going.”
The coach feels fortunate that Tavel did not take his talents to a prep or Parochial school, but Jake figured that despite lack of team success, he had just what he needed as an individual at Hamilton.
“I talked to my dad about it and then I decided it’s not even worth it,” Tavel said. “My goal is to play number one tennis and I’ll still play other team’s number ones by playing at West.”
Both Ditmars and Tavel agreed that serving is the weakest part of Jake’s game, but the coach added “having said that, recently he’s been crushing his serve. He’s been working on it and it’s paying off for him.”
Tavel’s talents have landed him a spot on the Mercer County Community College team next year. He has a six-year hitch in the National Guard and will do job training this summer. After that, he has weekend training once a month at either Fort Dix or in Sea Girt.
As Tavel prepares for the state tournament, he will always thank the National Guard for helping him get there.
“Since I was in the middle of basic training I was thinking back to tennis,” said Jake, who feels surviving basic training is his proudest achievement. “The only thing I remember saying to myself is I gotta come back better than ever, I gotta get to states again, which I have. Now I’m intent on doing the best I can and going as far as I can.”
He’s just happy he will be doing it on the ground, and not 45 feet in the air.
Hamilton High West first singles Jake Tavel.,
