Clyde's Cziesla becomes first Flier boys player in 22 years to make state

CLYDE — Twenty-two years ago, Clyde had a German exchange student reach the boys state tennis tournament.Fast forward to the present day, another German is getting ready to be the first Flier since 1996 to play at the state level.With his fourth-place finish at this past week's Division II district tournament, sophomore Lukas Cziesla became the first Clyde player since both Carsten Sudheimer and Jeff Murphy made the 1996 tournament. Sudheimer was a German exchange student that brought a 27-7 singles record into the state bracket. Cziesla will be entering at 29-5 when play starts Friday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.However, unlike his Flier teammates, Cziesla played tennis year-round in Germany. Included in his German matches were both singles and doubles matches, where as in Ohio, he just plays singles each match."I wasn't real sure how good I'd be at the beginning of the year," said Cziesla, who played six years of tennis in his home country prior to arriving in the U.S. "But as the season progressed I grew more confident and I believed more and more that I had a chance to do good, and that I had a great shot at making state."I had a good draw at the district tournament, took it match-by-match, and I was able to do it," he added. "Cziesla, who played on a team that won the championship for the German state of Bavaria in 2017, went unbeaten in Sandusky Bay Conference play. He won the SBC Lake division singles championship and was a sectional champion where he beat top-seeded James Hill of Edison, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in what he called his highlight match of the year."It was a very tough and intense match," said Cziesla of facing the Chargers' former state qualifier. "We played well over two hours. It was definitely my hardest-earned win of the year."Only two players — Lexington's Benton Drake and Ada's Zachary Beaschler — account for all five of Cziesla's losses. Beaschler beat him in the district semifinals before Drake topped him in the third-place match. Drake beat Cziesla on two other occasions during the season while Beaschler did once."When we saw what kind of player Lukas was, we thought he had the chance of having really good sectional and district tournaments," Clyde boys tennis coach Brian Miller said. "And he's right where he wants to be right now, which is nice. This was the goal, and the next one is getting to Saturday."Cziesla, a No. 4 seed will open with Gates Mills Hawken's Ryan Leizman, who won the Northeast district championship."It's never easy when you're a No. 4 going against a No. 1," Miller said. "But on the other hand, we know that any time in tennis, someone can be streaky. Sometimes they can't get the ball inbounds, other times they may overhit. You just never know what is going to happen."His goal is to make it to Saturday and win a few matches Friday," he added.Cziesla loves to play on the attack."My favorite shots are my serve and forehand," he said. "I'm also a very aggressive player. I try to get to the net as quick as possible."At times, though, he can be quick to a fault."He can get going too fast, so sometimes we have to slow him down," Miller said. "Sometimes you have those matches where you can win points quickly, but sometimes you need to slow down and give the opponent a chance to make a mistake or just to get a feel for the match. He loves doubles too, and a lot of times you're a lot more aggressive as a doubles player and you'll see that carry over to his singles matches."The team aspect was a bit new to Cziesla."At first, I thought it was going to be me playing for myself, kind of like it was in Germany," he said. "But I enjoyed being a part of a team. It was probably the most fun I've had playing tennis in any year I've played. I had great teammates."Clyde won the league title for the second straight year with Cziesla playing as its No. 1 singles player."He's definitely a really good player. Having him was a huge asset this year," Miller said. "Having him on the squad made everyone play at a higher level when they were hitting with him. As a player, you can't help but get better when you're playing with someone that can hit as well as he does."Clyde's Lukas Cziesla forehands the ball during a match in Norwalk on Thursday, April 5, 2018.Clyde's Lukas Cziesla serves the ball during Division II sectional tournament on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at Baywinds Athletic Club in Perkins Township.