So, the Eastern Connecticut Conference singles champion, St. Bernard’s Michaela Abate, doesn’t think of herself as overly competitive.

“I was definitely more competitive when I was younger,” Abate said. “When I was little, tennis was everything. Now that I’m older, my competitive side has gone down. There are bigger things in the world, like going to college. It’s diminished a little bit.”

Not that Abate, a sophomore and the league tournament’s No. 2 seed, didn’t enjoy winning the ECC title, coming from behind to beat top-seeded Hannah Fabianski of Stonington 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1 on May 29 at Stonington. Fabianski beat Abate in straight sets earlier in the season.

“I mean, that was a really good feeling. It definitely meant a lot,” she said. “Everything people had been telling me I could do, I could do. They weren’t just lying to me.”

A sophomore, Abate also had the distinction of leading St. Bernard (15-3) to the first Class S state championship match in program history, where it fell to defending champion Northwest Catholic, and its second straight ECC Small Division title. All-in-all, pretty competitive.

For her accomplishments, Abate, whose dad Mike is the head professional at Old Saybrook Racquet Club, the co-coach of the East Lyme High School boys’ team and introduced his daughter to the sport at an early age, was named The Day’s 2015 All-Area Girls’ Tennis Player of the Year.

“She likes to win more for her team than for herself; she downplays how competitive she really is,” St. Bernard coach Jennifer Feldman said of Abate. “But she does enjoy playing. If you watch her at practice, she’ll hit a ball, if you ever saw her face she really gets into it, she almost zones out.”

Abate is mellow, Feldman said.

“Most kids come in saying, ‘I want to be varsity, I want to win, I want to play singles,’ where Michaela’s just like ‘it is what it is,’” the coach said.

But also talented.

“Her skill is just natural to her. She can correct herself without someone having to tell her,” Feldman said. “All her years of being very quiet, she observes everybody. It doesn’t take her long to figure her opponent out. She reads people.”

Abate, who grew up reading voraciously, an only child with tons of fictional characters inhabiting her mind, actually sees herself more as a hobbit from Lord of the Rings fame, she said, than she does, say, Serena Williams.

“I’m short. I identify with hobbits,” she said with a laugh. “I still read. I like reading. People are harder to figure out. Characters are exactly how they’re supposed to be.”

Abate sees herself traveling in the future and attending a large college – the opposite of St. Bernard – both to gain perspective of the world. She wants to write or edit. She writes her own short stories and creates a lot of artwork in school.

As for tennis?

A self-described introvert, Abate credits her teammates with helping to affect her extreme shyness as a freshman.

Of reaching the finals, she said: “It was a great team to do it with. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with any other team.”

“Tennis is one of those sports, compared to boxing, where only you directly affect the other person. It’s a lonely sport. (Winning), it actually felt like it wasn’t so lonely. It makes you feel less alone.

“… It’s one of those things that was always in my life. I can’t really live without it at this point. I’m not a competitive person, but I like tennis.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday

The Day's 2015 All-Area Girls' Tennis Team

Player of the Year – Michaela Abate (St. Bernard)

Singles

Meredith Aird (Old Lyme)

Hannah Fabianski (Stonington)

Diana Francis (Fitch)

Emily Gardiner (Stonington)

Lauren Rahr (Waterford)

Doubles

Mallory McArdle-Claire Morehouse (Stonington)

Hannah O'Brien-Keelin Hurtt (Old Lyme)

Alaina Moger-Sophie Wang (Waterford)