Q&A: Hannah Berner

In 1973 Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs faced off on Center Court at the National Tennis Center in Queens in a match promoted as the “Battle of the Sexes.” Twenty-six years later, Beacon High School tennis player Hannah Berner was forced to defend her gender every time she played for her school. Beacon has no girls’ team. So Hannah had to deal with opposing boys’ coaches who cried “unfairness.” (How it was possibly “unfair” we don’t know.) Despite all that, Hannah went 16-2 and helped Beacon win their first Mayor’s Cup championship and defeated a collection of the city’s best high school female tennis stars en route to the city singles championship. For us, all she had to do was answer a few questions.

You’ve been featured in newspapers, helped Beacon win the PSAL Championships and the Mayor’s Cup Championships, won the individual championship Mayor’s Cup and been ranked in the USTAF top five. What’s your biggest accomplishment so far? I think overall, this year, representing the city. Because I was in Florida for a while at a tennis academy trying to go pro, and I came back to New York trying to slow things down and get a little more balance. So winning the Mayor’s Cup Championship was a great accomplishment.

What was it like playing for the guys’ team? Playing on the guys’ team was a ton of fun. I normally practice with guys but officially competing  and being officially accepted with the guys was an honor. And then helping my team win a championship was even more exciting.

What do you say, and what was your reaction, to opposing coaches’ negativity about that? (Laughing nervously) I think that I kind of tried to stay focused and not let it affect me even though it became a big thing—like there were articles in newspapers.  I was just trying to focus on playing my game. But I think it gave a lot of attention to me, almost in a positive light, because I think they’re going to try and make a girls’ team at [Beacon High School]. So like a lot of positive publicity came out of it.

Was there anything you would have loved to have said to those coaches? I talked with my racquet, and I won. So there’s nothing he can say to me.

What’s the biggest difference between being a tennis player in New York versus Florida? In Florida I was playing six hours a day. I was just playing tennis all the time. And now in New York I have to go to school, play tennis after school and I have more of a balance in my life. But also, I love New York. I’ll always love New York.

Tell me about being a tennis player in New York. Being a tennis player in New York is interesting because you don’t have the perfect weather all the time.  Sometimes you have to go to public courts with fences for nets and stuff (chuckles), but it’s part of the aura of being a player in New York. And I think a lot of great players have come from New York for a reason—because we’re tough and we love competition.

Do you have a favorite NYC court? (Laughing) Well I played a lot at the Prospect Park Tennis Center, but I grew up actually playing in Shelter Island—this place in Long Island.  My grandpa had a tennis court, and I watched my dad and his friends play doubles, so I learned tennis there. And I still, to this day, come back and play with my grandpa on that court.

New York City is legendary for pick-up basketball games. Is there such thing as a pick-up tennis? Um, I guess I can go and play people for money, and they won’t think a girl can play (laughing).  But I think now they know who I am [because of the newspaper articles]. But, um, I guess, yeah! You can just go wherever you want and play tennis, but it’s hard. You have to find a good opponent. I have a group of guys that I always hit with, and we go find some courts and play on them.

Do you have a local rival? Well, I’ve been playing the same girls since I was like in the 12’s and I left them [to go to Florida] and came back.

So I don’t have any specific girl rival. In the PSAL Championships though, there was a certain coach, you know, the big controversy where he said, “If I had my best girl on the team, we’d be able to win”. Well, in the Mayor’s Cup in the finals I beat their number one girl, so it kind of showed him that you can play your girls and your boys and we’d still beat you.

I’m sure you know about the Bravo show, NYC Prep. What would a tennis version of that show be like? Oh my gosh, (laughing).   Well the tennis world is a crazy world.  It’s really (pauses) you’re on your own.  It’s an individual sport, so you’re always on the grind by yourself. And when you’ve got tournaments you always have rivalries and stories. I never forget any match I’ve ever played, or any score. So sometimes I’ll see a girl and be like “I beat her 6-3, 6-4,” or “ooh, I lost to her.” Everyone remembers, and you kind of know people by their game.  “Oh that girl plays aggressively and with a Prince racquet.” You kind of have this identity through tennis. And then when you go to school though, you’re like a whole different person and people don’t even know that you play—so you have two lives.

Do you have a different mind set when you’re playing with a team versus as an individual? Definitely, definitely. When you’re on your own you have you your own struggles that you deal with by yourself and you don’t have to worry about your teammates or anything. But when you’re on a team, the support being there helps the overall scene. Like everyone is supporting you here, people yell “come on!” and it’s just a good support feeling. I think it really pushes you that much further when you have teammates and you can’t get lost in your own emotions.

You’re getting ready to attend University of Wisconsin. How are you preparing? I’ve been training. You know, last summer I trained really hard because I was trying to get into college. But now I want to be physically and mentally prepared to go to college and be ready, and not play like the freshman who’s getting used to it, but play like I’m ready for college tennis right off the bat. I’ll be playing for a Division I tennis team. It’s an academy practically. I’m going to miss New York, but Madison is a great town. Like it almost reminds me of Brooklyn. It’s very urban and “granola-y,” or whatever you want to call it. I have four years there, and I can come back to New York for the rest of my life if I want to.