Playing No. 1 singles, Paradise led the Zephyrs' tennis team to the Class 2A, Section 4 championship and won the section singles title.
Mahtomedi is a young team. How do you see your future? Well, we're a really good team right now. The future is way ahead of us. We have four eighth-graders on the team who will be here for five years and there are some sixth-graders coming up who are going to be good, too.
Your team lost in the state quarterfinals to Prior Lake. How do you take the next step? A lot of practice. I don't feel like I personally played very well [against the Lakers], but this is a good learning experience for us.
Talk about the state tournament environment. There was a lot more people than there are for regular-season matches. I noticed that right away. It's really fun, but a little more than I expected.
Paradise is a well-known athletic name on the east side of the metro. What's that like? Athletics are huge in our family. Hockey is our main sport. I guess bringing tennis into the family is a little different and unusual.
Are you the first tennis player in the family? My dad played and he made it to state in doubles a couple of times.
How did you get started? When I was 7 years old, my mom signed me up for everything. Once I picked up a tennis racquet, though, that was it for me.
JIM PAULSEN
