A to Z with Frazier Springfield

By Cliff Olsen, Gainesville Sun Correspondent, April 6th, 2011

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110406/ARTICLES/110409659

SCHOOL: Eastside

YEAR: Junior

POSITION: No. 1 singles, No. 1 doubles

HEIGHT: 5-foot-9

WEIGHT: 140 pounds

A rea tennis player I would pay to watch play?: Zach Goldberg of Gainesville High School. He has been a good friend of mine for a long time. I respect him as a tennis player. He works really hard when he trains and he plays his heart out when he plays. Rebecca Rosenblat of Eastside. She is a friend of mine, and I give her tennis lessons.

B est movie I’ve ever seen: “Iron Man 1 and 2.” Iike Robert Downey Jr. and I like action movies.

C oach Dave Porter’s best words of advice for me …: He says that I have the game and the technique, but I need to play more tournaments so I can develop my mental side.

D inner on an ideal night? Dinner on a Friday night at Chipotle with all my friends.

E astside’s 2010 boys tennis season, hightlighted by its first trip to state since 2003, was …: Exciting. I was a sophomore and to go to state with my friends and being one of the younger players, it was pretty honorable to go to a tournament like that.

F orehand winner, service ace, backhand winner or an overhead smash to win a match?: Forehand winner. My forehand is the best shot I have.

G oing to the net or staying on the baseline?: Going to the net. I like going to the net because it is the ideal way to win a point.

H ardest thing about playing in the two-day District 4-3A tournament is …: Facing Zach Goldberg of GHS in the No. 1 singles final. It will be tougher if I lose to him because he was on our team last year.

I nteresting thing about me away from tennis: I enjoy taking photos of nature. My favorite type of photo to shoot is running water, like waterfalls or the river.

J oker on the team: Definitely Tim Louthan. He is a nice, sarcastic person, but he likes to think that he is a thug.

K ey to having a good serve is …: Accuracy and consistency.

L east favorite Eastside tennis moment: Losing my first-round singles match at last year’s Class 3A state tournament.

M y biggest challenge moving from No. 3 singles to No. 1 singles this year has been …: A tough adjustment. In our big matches, usually against GHS or Buchholz, it comes down to one or two matches and it has been difficult being the person the team relies on to get a big win.

N ickname?: “Fraz” and I have also been given an inappropriate nickname by Josh Rosenblat after I shaved my head.

O ne person in my life who inspires me most: My dad, Emory Springfield. He is a pretty big athlete himself. He is 57 and still runs marathons. I got all the good athletic genes from him.

P otential college major: Marine biology. I like to scuba dive and I enjoy being under water.

Q uirky habit: I bite my nails.

R afael Nadal or Roger Federer?: Definitely Nadal. I think he is more of a genuine person than Federer is, even though I don’t know either one of them.

S uperstition I have: Karma. If you do something good, something good will happen to you; if you do something bad, something bad will happen to you.

T witter or Facebook page status post?: Facebook, but I really don’t use it that much.

U niversities or colleges considering: I’d like to play tennis for Stetson, and I like the University of Florida because it is in town.

V acation spot I love: Spruce Pine, North Carolina. It is in the Appalachian Mountains and it is where I do most of my nature photography. I also go snowboarding with my friends there.

W imbledon, The French Open, The Australian Open and the U.S. Open, my favorite grand slam tournament is …: The U.S. Open, partially because it is in our country, and I think it is more glamorous than the other ones.

X box, PlayStation or Wii?: Xbox 360. I enjoy playing Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Y ear I was born: 1994.

Z oo animal I like most: Flamingo. I like how they sleep with one leg up and their head in their chest.