October 18, 2021 at 8:44 a.m.
Johnson falls in final high school tennis match
Johnson falls in final high school tennis match
The match did not pan out the way the Hodag senior hoped -falling to Wausau West's Quin Babiarz 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the WIAA Division 1 girls' singles state tournament in Madison - but it was the capper of a successful season that saw Johnson go 22-5 overall and become Rhinelander's first state qualifier in girls' tennis since 2015.
"I'm just really excited to be in the atmosphere of just a lot of good talent, a lot of good tennis and I'm just super excited that I get to continue my senior season," Johnson told the River News last week prior to her match.
Both Johnson and Babiarz, the Eau Claire sectional champion at No. 2 singles, were unseeded going into the first round match. Rhinelander coach Matt Nichols said the two exchanged games early in Thursday's match on before Babiarz ran off three straight games to take the first set. That momentum carried into the second set at Babiarz raced out to a big lead.
"I'd say a lot of good rallies. Annika played well. I think she just missed some of the finishing shots that we've seen her hit before in other games," he said. "But the rallies were going well. The second set, it looked like she choked up a little bit, but at the end she came back. She got a game and was playing well. We just kind of ran out of time there."
Babiarz, a sophomore, finished the season 30-2 after dropping a three-set match to Janesville Craig's Rya Arreazola in the round of 32 later Thursday.
"For being a No. 2, I don't know that people would respect her as much but, when you see her play her game and how she did down there, she obviously deserved to be down there," Nichols said.
Johnson got into the state tournament field with a special qualifier after falling to Hudson's Lily Holmberg in straight sets in the WIAA sectional quarterfinals back on Oct. 6. She had to wait through the application process before learning that she got into the field two days later.
"I was in my car, on my way home (from practice). I remember Matt called me and I think he tried to play a little game with because he sounded so sad, but then he said, 'You got the special qualifier.' I was extremely happy that all the hard work paid off," Johnson said.
Luckily for Johnson, she had someone with first-hand knowledge of the process to guide her through the wait to see if her special qualifier application would be accepted. Markus Johnson, Annika's older brother, was a special qualifier for the WIAA D2 boys' tennis tournament in 2018.
"He was a big part in the reassurance process, letting me know that I could get a special qualifier and I just had to be patient," Annika said. "But yeah I do find it ironic that he got one and that I'm also getting one my senior year too."
The qualifier helped Johnson extend her season by one more match than her 2020 campaign, where she fell in a match tiebreaker to New Richmond's Izzy Brinkman in the sectional quarterfinals and did not advance to the state tournament.
"I was just devastated losing that match last year, but I'm glad it did work out that way because it made me such a better player, working hard in the offseason" she said.
This year's tournament was back at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison after being moved to alternate locations last year due to COVID-19 protocols. Johnson was accompanied at state by the rest of her singles teammates, all of whom got to soak in the state experience.
"It's just a cool atmosphere. You're playing where UW-Madison plays. You have all the top girls in the state. To finish down there is something special," Nichols said. "Just the movement on the court, how quick they are and how quick they set up for each shot, that was the major thing we saw. Also the doubles teams were very vocal and communicated a lot."
Johnson, who won Great Northern Conference singles player of the year honors this fall, finished her career 44-22 in singles - with all of those matches taking place at the No. 1 flight. She finished her RHS career 61-34 overall after going 17-12 as a freshman at No. 1 doubles with partner Haley Seefeldt.
"She's brought a lot of experience and talent the last four years," Nichols said. "She's been a leader on the team. She's worked hard to get there - summer tennis every summer. Outside of that, she's been hitting on the ball machine, hitting serves. It's nice to see that all her hard work paid off and it will definitely be missed, everything she's brought to the program."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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