10 Plus Questions With Kyle Dunn
In his second season with the Valparaiso tennis team, Kyle Dunn just keeps on winning. The former standout at Fond du Lac High School went 22-11 in singles and 14-5 in doubles in his freshmen collegiate season and has followed that up going 22-14 in singles and 11-4 in doubles this season heading into the Horizon League Tournament.
One of the interesting aspects of Dunn’s season this year is that he has played up and down the varsity lineup for Valpo. He’s undefeated (5-0) at No. 1 and No. 2 singles combined but played the most matches at No. 5 singles, where he is 7-3. Valpo finished second behind UW-Green Bay in the Horizon League dual meet standings.
Recently, Action Reporter Media caught up with Dunn to talk about his season and more.
Here is 10-Plus Questions With Kyle Dunn.
Q: What has been the biggest difference between being a freshman to this year being a sophomore?
A: The biggest difference between freshman and sophomore year is the experience I can lean back on from matches and experiences last year.
Q: You’ve played multiple matches at all six singles flights this season and have winning records at 5 of the 6 flights. Why have you moved around so much?
A: Our team is extremely deep and have a ton of guys that can play at every spot. I’ve hopped around a little bit based on matchups for different matches and just how some of us are playing at different times. You’re going to have some ups and downs throughout the year so it’s nice that we have so many guys that can cover for you when you’re not playing your best and vice versa.
Q: And what’s up with the No. 3 flight? That’s the one flight where you don’t have a winning record.
A: The 3 singles position is considered by some to be the hardest position to win consistently at in college. The 5 and 6 positions are normally going to have more grinders playing those positions while the 1 and 2 positions are going to obviously the most skilled usually and the 3 and 4 positions kind of combine those two qualities so you’re going to have to really be at the top of your game to beat most 3’s and 4’s because they’re not going to beat themselves.
Q: Other than the fact you’re not alone on the court, how big a difference is it between playing singles and doubles?
A: Singles and doubles are so much different mentally and tactically. It’s great to have that extra person out there who can bring you up when you get down a little bit on yourself. It’s also a lot more fun to be able to talk to someone between points and help keep each other loose. Plus there’s nothing better than coming through a tight doubles match with one of your teammates and sharing the success with them.
Q: Heading into the Horizon League tournament, what’s it going to take to upend UW-Green Bay – the only team to finish ahead of you in the dual meet season?
A: Green Bay has had a great season this year and we lost a tight one 3-4 to them a couple weeks ago. It’s going to take a tremendous team effort to beat them in the final, if we get there, and a great match from all of us at every position. We’re not overlooking our semifinal match by any means though and we’re taking it one match, one point, at a time.
Q: If you got a wildcard entry into one of the four grand slam tournaments, which would you choose to play in and why?
A: I’d definitely take a wildcard to Wimbledon because of all of the history. The prestigious atmosphere at Wimbledon is one of a kind. I can’t imagine what taking Center Court would be like.
Q: What non-pro tennis player celebrity would you most like to have as a doubles partner for a match and why?
A: I’d probably have Matthew McConaughey be my doubles partner for a non pro tennis celeb. I love all of his movies and he became my favorite actor after watching him in the first season of True Detective.
Q: If you were picking pre-match music to listen, would you want something that’s loud and fast and gets the blood pumping or something slow and smooth to be a little more relaxed?
A: I listen to hard rock about an hour before a match to get pumped up but then for the time really close to a match I slow it down and actually listen to some classical to calm down. I don’t like to be all fired up out on the court the way I did for hockey because it can get in the way of my game and distract me from the match if I’m getting bothered by a bunch of little things.
Q: How far do you think you could hit a tennis ball?
A: I have no idea haha, probably 60-70 yards.
Q: Are tennis players naturally good at ping pong or is there no carryover from one to the other?
A: I grew up playing a ton of ping pong with my brothers so I’m a little biased in saying that there is definitely a carryover. But generally I’d say there’s definitely a big correlation to tennis and ping pong.
Q: What’s the one match of yours you will still be talking about 20 years from now?
A: I hope I’ll be talking about this weekend and its matches 20 years from now.
Either/Or
Fruits or vegetables? Fruits
Movie theater or Netflix? Netflix
Drop shot or overhead smash? Overhead smash
Taylor Swift or Katy Perry? Taylor Swift
Federer or Nadal? Rafael Nadal-favorite player my whole life!!
Grand finale
Q: You have played all six singles flights this season, so what if the team arrives for a meet and EVERYONE but you comes down with food poisoning and you need to play all six singles matches (never mind the NCAA would not allow it). What would be the strategy and how many matches do you think you win?
A: The strategy would be the same as every match, with that being doing whatever it takes to win and not giving up till the handshake. And what kind of athlete would I be if I didn’t believe I could win every match that I went out to play!