Local senior tennis athlete Henry Baughman kicked off his 2019 competitive season in Nashville, Tennessee, in the Southern Section Indoor Tennis Championships.

Baughman, who competed in the 80 & Over divisions, said the event was poorly attended and that he played only two singles matches and one doubles match.

In the singles division, Baughman defeated last year’s winner, Milburn Price, 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals but fell 0-6, 1-6 to Ron Kieger of South Carolina, the tourney’s No. 1 seed. Later in the tourney, he teamed with Jerry Caldwell in the 80 & Over Doubles against Kieger and Price and his team fell 0-6, 1-6 in the finals match.

Baughman attributed his poor showing in the tournament to a lack of practice. He said poor weather conditions limited his practice time due to cold weather and/or wet courts. However, he did add that finishing second in both divisions counts highly toward ranking purposes, no matter how few matches played.