A great duo is hard to find.
Everything has to be in sync, especially on the same tennis court.
ASU juniors Kelcy McKenna and Micaela Hein found that match two years ago and earned All-American honors last season.
The tandem, which started the year ranked No. 12, spent much of the season apart, but reunited in time for the Pac-10 Championships. The State Press: Did you expect to do that well last year as a tandem and get All-American honors? Micaela Hein: I personally didn’t even know that we were All-Americans when that happened. I was surprised, but it was really cool.
Kelcy McKenna: I feel like I always think ahead, and Micaela is always focused on the match. It’s really nice playing with her, because she definitely keeps her partner in the moment. It’s good because I feel like we complement each other.
SP: Sometimes you don’t want the same style of play on the court. What do each of you bring to the table when you play together? KM: She complements me really well. She is very composed on the court, and sometimes I’m not, so she does an amazing job helping me stay within myself. She does a lot of things that I don’t do well — like her returns are amazing and she rarely misses and she sets me up all the time. It’s just great to play with her. She creates plays for people that most people cannot create. MH: [To Kelcy, surprised] Wow, okay, thanks. That was very nice of you; probably half of it isn’t true but thank you. She is being very modest right now. Her overhead is amazing, so that’s where I’m lacking a little bit. Probably serve and overhead she has me for sure. SP: I’ve seen [Kelcy’s)]overhead from the back of the court before.
MH: [Laughing] Exactly, and then you’ve seen mine shanking.
SP: What difference does it make not playing together throughout parts of this season?
KM: For me, personally, it’s like moving back into a house. Kind of like in college where you live in your apartment and then you get to go back to your house and you love it. It’s great because we played together for two years and then they took us apart, and so being able to play with her now makes me really appreciate her style and what she brings to the table as a doubles partner. I love playing with her, and it’s a lot of fun. [To Micaela] I missed the experience when I wasn’t playing with you and now that I get to I feel very fortunate. MH: Same here, I appreciate it a lot more. It made me realize how well we do play together. I hated playing doubles when I was younger because I was very independent and didn’t like having a partner on the court. For me, finding a good doubles partner that I liked to play with was really hard. The fact that I like playing with her says a lot about her game.
SP: Do you ever get upset with each other?
KM: I think that neither of us really gets mad when we miss a shot, because it’s a part of tennis. You miss, you move on and you play the next point. I definitely get mad at myself, and I know sometimes that Micaela gets mad at herself, but you’re a team. I don’t feel that we blame the other person. The fault is on both of you, not the other person.
SP: Do you ever have to calm each other down when one of you gets upset?
KM: Usually that’s her [laughing again]. ‘You’re fine, you missed one shot, we’re still in this game, we can still win.’
MH: Doubles is really fun for us. It’s a different type of pressure than in singles. For me, it’s the more fun match to play in.
SP: You guys stay a lot more composed than I would.
MH: You learn. I had to learn to be composed from a young age, so I have kind of always been like that, but there are of course times when I want to chuck my racket over the fence. You have to keep it in. You don’t want the other player to know you’re [ticked] off, either.
SP: How are you guys feeling going into the postseason?
MH: This is the first year I feel pretty healthy, so I’m super excited to be playing singles and doubles in Pac-10s.
KM: It’s different because last year, since we were playing the whole season, we had a ranking and a chance to make the postseason individually. I hope that we win Pac-10s. It would be an awesome achievement.
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu
