“My serve has never been something I really have to think about,” Tanguilig said. “That’s been tough for me, personally, because normally there’s been a quick fix, and I’ve been able to just bounce back.”
It started at the ITA Indoor Championship. Then it was up-and-down over the next two months. The problem kept rearing its ugly head. Tanguilig felt like it was consuming the majority of her season.
“Her serve has always been one of the very best serves in the whole country,” associate head coach Tyler Thomson said. “To go from that to serving underhanded sometimes because you’re afraid of double faulting really shook her.”
Before the match against Duke, Thomson invited Tanguilig for a walk on the Bolin Creek Trail in Chapel Hill. He knew her confidence was shaken. He advised her to trust herself — to stop trying too hard. She needed to settle down. Let the game come to her.
The problems still continued. On April 4 when the team traveled to California, Tanguilig was one point away from losing in straight sets. Then, sophomore Tatum Evans clinched the 4-0 team victory over Stanford. Tanguilig’s match went unfinished. But the damage was done.
Before the match against California Berkeley the next day, the senior met with all three coaches. They talked for a long time. Tanguilig shared her desire to put the early points on the board for the team, winning her singles matches quickly.
The coaches advised her to simplify each match. Take her mind out of it. Enjoy each moment. Play for herself, not for accomplishments. Trust her track record.
That afternoon, she clinched a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
“It’s honestly so impressive to see her, even though she might be struggling a little bit, she stays cool, she stays calm and she just stays out there,” senior Lindsay Zink said. “It’s starting to show now toward the end of the season, honestly, when I think it really matters that she’s someone we can count on.”
Before this weekend’s slate of matches, Tanguilig worked on her serve all week. She broke it down. First, her hands and her grip. Her toss. Her swing. She rehearsed it all during her individual practices.
Because of her tendency to serve better in practice than a match, she created a routine before her serve to ground herself. A few bounces of the ball between the ground and her hand before her big swing.
During the doubles match against Miami, Thomson asked her if she wanted to serve first. He told her it was completely up to her.
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“I feel like if I didn’t do it, I was just never going to,” Tanguilig said.
And on Saturday, Tanguilig and her partner, first-year Susanna Maltby, cruised to a 6-0 win over the Hurricanes. She didn’t look back, carrying that momentum into singles. In fact, she pointed to her serve as her most effective weapon in her match later that afternoon.
Even when she missed, she didn’t panic. Gone were the tears and the slumped shoulders. Now, only a sheepish, but proud smile.
“Our best team and Carson’s best tennis is not when she’s one flap down,” Thomson said. “It’s when she’s really full throttle.”
@carolinewills03
@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com
Caroline WillsCaroline Wills is the 2024-25 sports editor. Previously, she served as a senior writer on the sports desk, primarily covering women's tennis, field hockey, and women's basketball.
