Watch Billy Hall glide around the tennis court, and everything seems so natural.
The top-spin forehand flies off his racket strings, and his backhand cuts through the air toward the back line with precision.
His serve? It’s dominant — especially with his ability to kick it into the opponent’s body.
Watch the Wyoming Seminary junior, and it’s hard to identify one weakness in his game.
It’s something that he credits to a ton of work in the offseason; a period of time that seems to stretch 365 days.
Tennis is one of Hall’s passions.
“I did play a lot, but I think it was a lot of my coaches and their advice that helped me to really grow. I was also working with Fred Hockenbury, and that really helped me quite a bit. My dad and I, we would go out and practice quite often. Putting all of those things together, and I think it really helped me to grow into a good player,” Hall said.
It was a junior season that Hall grew into one of the top all-around players, not only in District 2, but also in Pennsylvania. For his efforts, the Blue Knight earned the Citizens’ Voice Boys Tennis Player of the Year honor.
Hall had quite a year.
He finished undefeated in the Wyoming Valley Conference at No. 1 singles, and was the No. 2 seed in the singles district tournament, where he finished as the runner-up in Class 2A to Scranton Prep’s Akhilesh Velaga.
One week later, Hall partnered with teammate Stefan Zecar to win the District 2 Class 2A doubles championship in a straight-set victory over Holy Redeemer’s Frank Klimovitz and Jaden White.
The Seminary duo went to the state tournament and brought home bronze medals after reaching the state semifinals, falling to champs Armaan Malik and Jio Garcia of Conrad Weiser.
Hall was also a crucial part of the Blue Knights’ run to the team district championship, where Seminary edged out Scranton Prep, 3-2, in the final.
The junior sat down with The Voice to describe his junior season, talk about what it was like to win a bronze medal at states and discuss what his plans are in the offseason.
Q: You were coming off a strong sophomore year in 2024. Talk about some of your goals and expectations heading into this year.
A: Whenever you enter a new season, you just want to prepare the best that you can. You just want to give yourself the best opportunity to do as well as you can throughout the season. I thought that I did a pretty decent job with it.
Q: What shots do you feel really improved this year?
A: I would have to say that my serving improved quite a bit. One year ago, I changed my serve slightly, so I was getting a little more familiar with it over time. For this year, that was a big thing for me. Also, my ability to come forward and play the net better was also a good improvement for me.
Q: How cool was it to win a team title for Seminary this year?
A: It was definitely a pretty special moment. We’ve come close in previous years, but we just couldn’t break through. It was, by far, the highlight of the season. It’s so much fun to win with the team.
Q: Any moments or memories stand out for you?
A: Obviously, the team title is pretty special for me. Also, playing with Stefan in districts and states was pretty special, as well.
Q: Obviously, you are a really strong singles player, but you are pretty talented in doubles. How satisfying is it when you can switch from singles to doubles and still have great success?
A: I don’t play doubles too often, so you really don’t know what to expect. But we were able to play pretty well as a team. It was a thing where we had to learn to play together, and kind of learn what our strengths were as a team. That’s always interesting, but it was fun.
Q: This is the second straight year you won district doubles gold, but it was with a new partner. How unique was that for you?
A: It’s always interesting because you have to really understand your partner. The biggest thing for me is the mental factor. You have to see how we work together mentally, so we can help each other through that side of the game. That was pretty important for both of us.
Q: How special was it to go undefeated in the WVC?
A: That was great. It was a big accomplishment for me. You don’t really think about it throughout the season because you are just worried about playing your match each day. But once the season is over, and you can sit back and think about it, it’s pretty special for me.
Q: Talk about the offseason. What do the next few months look like?
A: I’ll be playing at some various tournaments in the next few months. Just try to keep working to get better and improve. I want to play more consistently with my shots. That’s the big thing for me. That would give me some better opportunities during the match.
Q: Have you begun the college process yet?
A: I have started, and I am still working through it. It’s stressful, but at the same time, it’s also pretty exciting to see what opportunities play out and present themselves. I’ve tried not to stress over it because I do want to sit back and enjoy going through this process.
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