With US Navy training on the horizon, Mason Carlson savors experience at USTA Nationals

“I will be going to training in February for three months in a bubble,” Carlson said. “I won’t be able to play tennis or really anything else. Until I am finished with that, I can’t even look at a tennis racquet. After that, I’ll be moving around a bunch and definitely won’t be in Missouri to play tennis for a little while.”

After completing his training Carlson said he will likely be stationed on a ship, though it is also possible he’ll end up on land and near a tennis court. Regardless, he is looking forward to this next stage of life and serving his country.

“I just think joining the military is a good next step for me and what I’m wanting to do,” Carlson said. “I’m wanting to get into some sort of protection of other people. I think that’s a good decision both personally and then in general. I don’t hear a lot of negative reviews from people who join the military. I’m very excited to do that.”

A year after graduating from Branson High School, Carlson and his friend, Josh Bartram, decided to compete in a tennis tournament together in Springfield in 2021. Through that tourney, the duo met several individuals passionate about the sport.

Carlson and Bartram were invited to join a couple USTA League teams and jumped at the opportunity. Both have participated on USTA Missouri teams since then, though they weren’t on the nationals-qualifying team together.

Carlson noted he has played on other USTA Missouri teams that have progressed to the Section Championships, but none finished higher than third place. He and Murphy teamed up to go undefeated in the run-up to nationals and won their first match together at nationals, which occurred Nov. 1-3 in Orlando. It was a sacrifice for Carlson to play on the team with him living near Topeka, which is about 3.5 hours from Springfield.

“It was a lot of fun,” Carlson said. “It was really cool to travel with a group of friends and go somewhere cool. It was very cool to have that experience as a tennis player, to be able to go to the USTA campus in Orlando. It was a very large and impressive area. Going with a group of people I have spent many years playing tennis with and being able to share that experience with them was very cool.”

To view which teams from the USTA Missouri Valley have captured Section Championships, click here. To follow along with how those squads performed at the USTA League National Championships, click here.