George Danes believes in himself.

He believed, when he arrived at Old Lyme High School last year as a freshman, that he should be playing No. 1 singles over a senior. He believes now, following a second straight unbeaten regular season as a sophomore, that his future may include playing at Wimbledon.

And yet mired amid the 16-year-old confidence, Danes is also willing to adapt to his surroundings. He has embraced Old Lyme since moving from Bedford, N.H. — "I love it. There's so much less gossip. Everyone's nice," he said. He is amenable to change for the good of his game; he lost 25 pounds off his 6-foot-2 frame prior to this season, rendering him more agile.

"He has a passion for the game," Old Lyme coach Bill Rayder said, asked what Danes' strengths are as a player. "He practices and he loves to play. He channels all his energy into playing. That's what he wants. His passion is to play. The more you play, the better you're going to be."

Danes, who won the Shoreline Conference singles title this season and reached the semifinals of the Class S state tournament following a 16-0 regular season, was named The Day's 2019 All-Area Boys' Tennis Player of the Year.

"I already broke my strings because I've been playing so much. I got them strung right before Shorelines," Danes said of his fondness for tennis. "It might be three hours of torture and you're sweating at the end, but you know you deserved it.

"Just the determination to win ... I'm the most competitive in my grade. I hate losing. I was playing a kid in a USTA match and I was losing 1-5. I said, 'Screw it, I have nothing to lose.' I won five straight games. He threw his racket on the ground."

John Pfeiffer was Old Lyme's coach last season when Danes was a freshman.

To avoid any animosity between his two best players, senior Morgan Greenho and a rookie in Danes, Pfeiffer played each of them at No. 1 singles for part of the season. Then he paired Greenho and Danes as a doubles team for the Class S state tournament, resulting in a state championship and all-state distinction for the duo.

This season, Danes, a lefty, won the Shoreline singles title 6-4, 6-3 over Westbrook senior Nate Comment to earn first team all-league honors.

Then, seeded third in the Class S tournament, Danes won four matches — the first two by 6-0, 6-0 margins — before falling to No. 2 Drew Morris of St. Joseph 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals. Old Lyme finished second as a team in the Class S standings for the second straight season.

Danes is a two-time State Open qualifier.

"It was rough, though, a freshman and a senior," Danes said of his successful pairing with Greenho. "He had to put up with me a lot. Our coach put me and him so many times together. I was a freshman and I thought no one could beat me, but no one knew who I was because I actually just moved there.

"In New Hampshire, tennis is crazy. They have a good team. There's 1,600 kids at the school, 400 kids per class. It's so crazy. Once I moved to New Hampshire (from Cooperstown, N.Y.), there's nothing around you; I just kept playing and playing, doing tournaments."

Danes refers to himself as "a very awkward kid" when he arrived in Old Lyme. He said last fall was the first time he started to care about his body. He had an English muffin for breakfast, forbade himself from going through the school snack line at lunch and got a personal trainer. He trimmed his weight from 220 to 195 pounds.

"I was way stronger than last year," Danes said. "Last year, someone would drop the ball over the net and I would just look bad. I was just like, 'No!' I feel so good now. My legs are stronger. I have good endurance for once in my life. I looked at photos from when I started moving to Old Lyme. My stomach was big. I would just eat so much. I had no endurance. I was just that kid that didn't have any footwork."

Danes said he now has the capability of adapting his game to his opponent, "six different strategies for six different people," he said.

Danes will also participate this summer in Tennis Pals Camp, offered by the Lymes' Youth Service Bureau to introduce tennis to youth and young adults with physical, cognitive or developmental challenges.

Pfeiffer, despite no longer coaching at Old Lyme, came to watch his former players six or seven times this season and saw a much more polished version of Danes.

"He's a year older. He's done very well," Pfeiffer said. "As a senior, he's going to be really awesome. He really grew. That's part of what we expected ... he'll grow up and he'll be awesome."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

The Day's 2019 All-Area Boys' Tennis Team

Player

of

the

Year - George Danes (Old Lyme)

Singles

Eric Gu (East Lyme)

Fadi Hage (Waterford)

William Michelson (Stonington)

Finn Power (East Lyme) 

Jake Stiger (Stonington)

Doubles

Jonathan Tan-Guillem Colom (East Lyme)

Graham Johnstone-Kyle Remmert (Stonington)

Sujesh Kurumbail-Ethan Stewart (East Lyme)