The star tennis player for Airline High School is ranked 68th nationally in his age group and is listed as the third-best player in Louisiana. Zachary has been ranked as high as 51st in the country.
Last week University of Central Florida’s men’s tennis head coach Bobby Cashman announced that he was one of the nation’s premier junior players and said Zachary had signed a grant-in-aid with the Knights. He will join the program next fall.
Zachary said he has been playing tennis for the past 12 years and practices upwards of two hours a day.
“Tennis attracted me because it is all individual,” Zachary said. “If you play badly, you have no one to blame but yourself.”
Zachary, who has made a name for himself in Bossier City, is hoping to make a name for himself in Orlando, Fla. According to tennisrecruiting.net, Zachary is a five-star recruit.
“Matt is a good singles and doubles player,” Cashman said. “He has posted great singles results on the national level. He has also won some great doubles tournaments in the South.”
In October, Zachary took the title at the Bullfrog Southern Designated event in Raleigh, N.C. He posted five wins at the tournament, including a victory in the title match over the nation’s 26th-ranked junior.
As a junior at Airline High School, Zachary won the Louisiana Class 5A state singles title. In 2008, Zachary was the state runner-up.
Source: Shreveport Times, December 23, 2009, titled “Airline’s Zachary to play at UCF” by Jane Bokun.