Meet the player of the year and All-Polk County team for boys tennis
LAKELAND — Ben Saltman was already well-known in Polk County tennis circles by the time he started high school, as had a successful juniors career and was consistently one of the top players in his age group as he was growing up.
So when Saltman, who is homeschooled but takes one class at Winter Haven High School, decided to play high school this season as a sophomore, he was expected to be the dominant player. He was that dominant player, going undefeated before losing in the overall state semifinals.
Saltman is The Ledger’s 2024 Boys Tennis Player of The Year.
State tournament: Winter Haven's Ben Saltman comes one match short of FHSAA tennis title
More All-County teams: Meet the player of the year and all-Polk County team for girls tennis
Growing up, Saltman had two options if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Winter Haven city tennis pro David Saltman. The senior Saltman played both tennis and basketball at Haines City High School and in college and is a former boys basketball coach at Lake Region and Auburndale.
Ben chose tennis.
“I remember just hitting on the wall at a couple of different places wherever my mom and dad were hitting with each other,” Ben said. “I would hit on the wall I think as young as 2 or 3.”
By the time he was 8, he began playing tournaments, having success and he knew he found his sport.
“I've always enjoyed tennis and I've always enjoyed competing,” he said. “I've enjoyed it more and more as I've gotten older.”
It’s immediately obvious when seeing Ben play for the first time that he wasn’t your average high school tennis player, even among the strong players at No. 1 singles. He has great court coverage, can hit from all angles, has a strong baseline game but can also play at the net.
Earlier this year, it was reported that there wasn’t a single player inside the ATP’s Top 10 with a one-handed backhand for the first time since 1973 when the rankings were created. Yet Ben, who had a two-handed backhand until he was 12, is the increasingly rare player who employs a one-handed backhand, and he’s very effective with it.
“I was just kind of playing around with the one-hander and it just felt looser,” he said. “So I just decided to use it because it was just more fun for me. My two-hander used to be really tight. It took me about a year before my one-hander was half decent. I had some bad results, like in the 12s, with my one-hander. It just wasn't very good when I started, but as it got better, I'm glad I have it because it's a looser shot and there's also more variety using the slice and (other shots). It's multidimensional.”
Last year, George Jenkins’ Nico Kumria played high school tennis for the first time as a sophomore and dominated the county opponents en route to being player of the year. This season, Ben won all five matches, although two of them were close.
Ben defeated Kumria, 6-0, 6-1, in the regular season then had to survived a battle in the overall county final, prevailing 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. He had another one-sided victory over Kumria in the district finals. However, in the team tiebreaker match the next day, the two battled in a pro set before Ben pulled away to win, 8-5. The final match came when Winter Haven defeated George Jenkins in the regional finals to go to state.
Close or one-sided, the matches were always entertaining as both players played with visible emotion.
“I show more positive emotion in the team environment,” Ben said. “When I play like in the tournaments individually, it's a little bit more quiet. But I think if you can balance positive emotion without letting like negative emotions get to you, then that's a good thing. But it's hard to find the balance. Sometimes it also just depends on the situation or the personality of who you are.”
A benefit of playing a player like Kumria so many times in a short span, Ben said, was that he kept having to make adjustments to counter what Kumria was doing. When they met, it wasn’t their first time on the same court.
“I’ve actually known Nico a long time,” Ben said. “I’ve practiced with him before as well. So playing him wasn't anything like super new.”
At the state tournament, In the individuals bracket finals, which was the overall semifinals, Ben faced Tampa Plant’s Jack Satterfield, a player he beat in all four previous occasions the players met. This time, however, Satterfield took control and kept Ben on the defensive nearly the entire match. Satterfield prevailed 6-1, 6-3 and went on to repeat as the individuals Class 4A state champion.
“I didn't capitalize on the opportunities,” he said. “He played a really good match, so I had to play a high quality point every single time to win it. The biggest thing is that I felt like I came up short on the opportunities that I had to make the scoreline closer than it was. The margins are just so small. When any little opportunity you have, you have to capitalize. And that's what I didn't do.”
The Ledger's 2024 All-County Boys Tennis Team
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ben Saltman
Winter Haven, Sophomore
Saltman has a very successful juniors career and played high school tennis for the first time. He dominated in the county then won county and district titles and also won both his regional matches. At the state tournament, he reached the individuals bracket finals — the overall state semifinals — and lost to Plant’s Jack Satterfied. He also qualified for the state tournament with Colin Lopez in doubles.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Logan Allen
Auburndale
The Bloodhounds lost just twice to the top two teams in the county, George Jenkins and Winter Haven. Allen then led Auburndale to district and regional titles as the Bloodhouds qualified for the state tournament for the first time since 2017.
FIRST TEAM
Nikolas Kumria
George Jenkins, Junior
Went 8-1 during the regular season and was county and district runner-up at No. 1 singles.
Wiley Simpson
Geneva Classical, Junior
Went 6-2 and was West County runner-up.
Kyle Fox
Auburndale, Junior
Fox was East County runner-up and district champion.
Dylan Mitchell
George Jenkins, Senior
Went 7-1 in regular season. Lost to Colin in district finals at No. 2 singles the beat him in district tiebreaker and regional finals.
HONORABLE MENTION
All Saints: Lith Kazmier, Conlan Keadle.
Auburndale: Angel Guilarte, Trevor Patterec, Chad Williams.
Bartow: Nathan Sandoval.
George Jenkins: Logan Bright, Luke Siyufy, Brayden Mitchell, Orrin Kitchens.
Haines City: Jeremiah Ortiz.
Lake Region: Everett Whitehead.
Lake Wales: Malav Shah.
Lakeland: Matthew Fuentes, James Maskas, Jake Estroff.
McKeel: Davin Twiss, Keith Kopp.
Ridge Community: Louis Darlene.
Winter Haven: Colin Lopez, Layton Kemp, CJ Chalwe, Mac Kranzler.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland, All-Polk County Boys Tennis Team, Player of the Year
