Ford’s experience bringing him comfort in 2023

As a team, the Cape Central Tigers have got off to a fast 3-1 start, but individually Jacob Ford has been off to an impressive start as well, building off his previous success.

Ford is now in his senior year with the Tigers and he thinks the experiences he’s had in the last three years have eased the pressure this season.

“You’re going in knowing you have a little more experience than a lot of people,” Ford said. “It just gives you the calmness to hit the strokes you know how to hit. It’s pretty comfortable actually, no stress at all.”

Having the success Ford has had can lead to a psychological advantage on his opponents.

“I don’t try to think about that,” Ford said. “It’s up to me how the strokes are going. I don’t really try to think about what they’re doing, but mostly what’s in my head.”

Ford serves as the Tigers’ number-one player in singles and is paired on the top doubles team with Eli Peters.

In Thursday’s 6-3 win over Jackson, Ford won his singles match 8-0 and Ford and Peters won their doubles match 8-0.

“We’re all seniors and we’re all pretty confident,” Ford said. “We won team districts last year and we plan on doing that again. We come out every day trying to hit as best we can because we know we can hit it well.”

Cape Central took 2 of the 3 doubles matches to jump out to a quick advantage over Jackson on Thursday.

“It’s good to always start (fast) in doubles because it gives you that lead for the team,” Ford said. “Then, in singles, you can do your thing.”

Ford said while winning the doubles is nice, it ultimately comes down to how each person plays in singles.

“Singles are always the most important because you have all of those matches,” Ford said. “Doubles does help but mostly at the end of the day it’s up to singles.”

Cape Central (3-1) is back in action at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11 when the Tigers travel to take on North County.