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Like most 13-year-old tennis players, Geoff Abrams has to be driven to practice by his parents. Unlike most 13-year-old tennis players, Abrams has to duck to get into the car.
Abrams is 6 feet 3 1/2 and has been towering over the rest of the 14-and-under division this season. He's 29-1 in matches this year, losing only three of 60 sets. And he has won the two most prestigious junior tournaments, the Easter Bowl in Miami and the Ojai Valley.
Staring across the net at a guy a foot taller has to be unnerving for Abrams' opponents. And the minute the fuzz begins to fly, he starts making things even tougher for them. Abrams plays a pure serve-and-volley game, not seen often by the baseliners of the 14s circuit.
"I only think about one thing now, getting in to the net," Abrams said. "A lot of these guys are smaller, so I just try to overpower them."
Phil Dent, a former professional who is one of Abrams' coaches, says big is not always better.
"Actually, his size can be good and it can be bad," Dent said. "At that age, the muscles usually aren't developed to the point where they can haul a frame that big around. At least not very efficiently.
"But Geoff knows that movement is the part of the game that he has to work the hardest on and he's been doing that. If he doesn't move well, he can't get the opportunity to use his best shots.
"He's coming along really well, though. And he's not just more mature physically than most of the kids his age, he's more mature emotionally, too."
Indeed, Abrams' perception and perspective belie his youth. He's a...