HOWELL — Howell junior Estie Sura wasn’t just another qualifier who could be simply soak up the experience of competing in the state tennis tournament.
That might have been her mindset a year ago, but Sura is a different player than she was when she became Howell’s first state qualifier in 2023.
She showed up in Midland looking for more in her second trip to the state Division 1 finals, coming in as a seeded player at No. 1 singles.
“I was a little nervous last year,” Sura said. “Coming into this year, I was definitely more nervous because I’ve been playing better and pressure is a privilege. The better you do, you’re expected to do more. Being a seed in the middle of the eight seeds, being the fifth, kind of made me a target.”
Sura’s goal was to at least reach the state semifinals, something no player from Livingston County has done since Brighton No. 1 singles player Jenny Nalepa in 2006.
She achieved that goal by winning two straight-sets matches following a first-round bye before losing 6-3, 6-1 to the eventual champion, Utica Eisenhower sophomore Gabriella Sadowski. It was the only loss in 22 matches for Sura, who plays in the tough KLAA West during the regular season.
Sura reached the semifinals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over fourth-seeded Catherine Wilcox of Ann Arbor Skyline. Sura figured she should find herself in an even matchup for a berth in the semis if she got to the quarterfinals.
“I was the fifth seed,” said Sura, who was selected by the Livingston Daily as Livingston County’s girls tennis Player of the Year. “In the quarters, I would have ended up playing the fourth seed. That fifth seed has the best chance of an upset if there was going to be an upset because the two seeds that play each other are the closest together.”
To reach the state tournament, Sura defied even more history by becoming the first county girl to win a regional championship since Brighton’s Maddie Miller in 2016.
Sura is achieving things rarely seen on the county tennis scene because she’s willing to spend the time on the road traveling to indoor tennis facilities in Okemos or Bloomfield Hills. The lack of an indoor facility in the county has long been cited by coaches as the reason teams in this area struggle to make a dent at the state level.
“It’s kind of hard with the amount of driving you have to do,” she said. “I have to drive far. Kids kind of stop at that; they don’t want to go far, which is understandable. Driving and playing at these good clubs with these good coaches and players, if people started doing that more, they would get better. Hopefully they build an indoor tennis facility so people don’t have to drive.”
Sura is playing tournaments twice a month to help her close the gap on the best players in the state. Just because she reached the semifinals this year is no guarantee she’ll get at least that far as a senior. Each of the top five seeds and seven of the top eight will return next year.
“I learned kind of where my game stands,” Sura said. “Not just stuff I need to improve, but I also learned I fit right in with these types of players. Being in the final four in the state, it helps my confidence. I learned some things I need to work on if I want to go further, because (Sadowski) is a sophomore and she’s going to be playing next year. There’s a couple who are my grade or below.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
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