Garden City's Zach Morris has made name for himself
Garden City High School junior Zach Morris returns a volley during a varsity boys tennis first singles match vs. Baldwin at Garden City High School. (April 30, 2010) Credit: Photo by James A. Escher
Zach Morris starts laughing before the question is even asked. He knows what's coming. People can't resist.
"Saved by the Bell," he says, shaking his head. "When I was younger I asked my parents if they realized how much trouble they've caused me.''
For the record, you're more likely to find this Zach Morris at the Garden City tennis courts than the Max and he's never met Kelly Kapowski. He pulls out his cell phone to prove his point.
"It's an averaged-sized phone," he said. "Touch screen. Not ridiculous like the one he used to carry around."
Morris, born in 1993, says his parents claim they had no idea about Zack Morris, the protagonist of the popular NBC teen show that aired its final episode a month before his birth. They gave him the name because they liked the way it sounded.
And while it's impossible to ignore the similarities between the outgoing, blonde high school students, Morris deserves to be recognized for more than a famous name. After finishing third in Nassau as a freshman and second as a sophomore, the Garden City junior has his sights set on his first county singles tennis title.
He's short for a tennis player at 5-7, but playing against bigger competition doesn't faze him. Morris has been Garden City's top player since seventh grade and has been all-division and all-conference every year.
"I'm small, averaged-sized" he said. "It's a disadvantage but I like it. My motto is: 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' . . . It's not like I'm fighting them."
But like the more famous Morris, he remains friendly with his more physically intimating rivals. Last year his A.C. Slater was Long Beach's Danny Kreyman, who eliminated Morris in straight sets in the Nassau championship. When the powerful Kreyman won the state championship a few weeks later, Morris was the first on the court to congratulate him.
Said Morris: "Playing against him helped me a lot. That serve coming in at 120 miles per hour is good practice."
To find a Slater-like rival this season, Morris needs only to look across his bedroom at his taller, dark-haired twin brother and co-captain Alex, 17 minutes his senior.
Like Zach, Alex, hasn't lost a high school dual match since his freshman year. Together the Morris twins give Garden City Nassau's most impressive 1-2 singles punch this side of Cold Spring Harbor. In last season's county tournament, Alex lost a tough two-set match to CSH's Eric Ambrosio, who fell to Zach in the semifinals the next day. The twins say they would have no qualms facing each other in the county tournament.
"If it comes down to it I'd have to take him out," Alex said with a laugh. "All kidding aside, I may not come in ranked but I have a better edge against him than most people. I know his game. He doesn't want to face me."
But the county's top players want to face Zach Morris. Wantagh's Doug Notaris, the only player to take a set off him this season, told Morris he thought about the match all week. Notaris won the first set 6-4, then went up 1-0 in the second. Morris won the next 12 games and hasn't dropped a set since.
After the match Notaris told Morris he took his game to another level: "He said he respected me," Morris said. "That meant a lot."
It's tough to find someone who doesn't respect Morris. He rarely loses his cool on the court. Like his television counterpart, when things get rough, Morris takes a timeout.
"I take some deep breaths to relax," he says. "Sometimes you play a guy like Danny [Kreyman] and he's so good, all you can do is laugh. Throw some humor into it."
That started at a USTA tournament when he was 10 years old. "I lost but I still got the sportsmanship trophy," he said. "That's still a trophy I can show to all my friends."
Morris improved to 8-0 on Friday, despite his mind being on other things. SATs are around the corner. On "Saved by the Bell," Zack Morris scored a 1502, earning him acceptance to Yale. Garden City's Morris hopes the SATs, and his tennis ability, can take him to similar heights. The student with a 93 average counts Brown and Georgetown among his dream schools.
"Stay on the right path," he said. "It's something Mama and Papa Morris have always taught me. The money, the houses, the girls. That will all come in time."
Spoken like only Zach Morris could.
