Guerin Emig: The story of the Henryetta tennis wiz who took down Jimmy Connors
BRANSON MO NEWS:
You’ve heard of Jimmy Connors. Now it’s time you hear of the 12-year-old from Henryetta who beat him. Now it’s time you hear of Phil Carter, who threatened to rule youth tennis at a time tennis threatened to rule youth sports in this country.“Jimmy was just turning 11. His mother called the guy who was coaching me at the time, Jerry Guymon, and wanted to know if she could set up an unofficial match,” said Carter, now 66 and semi-retired near Branson, Missouri. “I had just won the Missouri Valley. I had beaten some really good players, including Jimmy’s older brother, John, who was better than Jimmy at the time.”You know who else was better than Jimmy at the time? Phil Carter.“When I came here in 1964, Phil was one of the better players in Oklahoma or the United States,” said Mike Kennedy, a coach who became synonymous with Henryetta tennis. “He had all the shots.”“I was 11 when we started out, Phil was about nine,” said Mark Milligan, a state high school champion at Henryetta before playing doubles with Carter in college. “He had the best hands of any player I’ve ever personally …
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