In the Class 6A boys’ singles finals on Tuesday, Gonzalez came up short against Arman Dave of Southlake Carroll, falling 6-3, 6-1 at the Mitchell Tennis Center and Omar Smith Instructional Tennis Courts at Texas A&M University.
Regardless, Gonzalez ends his high school tennis career with a silver medal and will be remembered as one of the Valley’s most successful tennis athletes, having qualified for the state tournament each of his four years at South.
“He (Dave) was very consistent and he didn’t miss any balls,” Gonzalez said of his final opponent. “But there were things I could have done differently, but I did the best I could.”
Prior to this year, Gonzalez had failed to win a match at state. But all that changed on Monday after he won two matches to advance to Tuesday’s finals.
“Going into Monday, I was pretty nervous, but I knew I had a good chance to get past the first round and once I did that gave me the confidence I needed going into the semifinals,” he said.
Gonzalez will now get ready for graduation and then take his talents to the college level where he’ll play for St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.
“I’m really excited about going to the next level, but I know that it’s going to be tough and I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me.”
Gonzalez is also a finalist for the boys Tennis Player of the Year award at the 2016 All-Valley Sports Awards Banquet, which is set for June 14 in McAllen.