Compared to most competitive tennis players, Zach Barden got a late introduction to the sport.
While many first pick up a racket at four or five years old and take private lessons soon after, Barden's initial foray into tennis came when he was in junior high.
Those $2 lessons at Jermain Park turned into full summer days spent at the west Toledo courts, sometimes not returning home until midnight after playing under the lights.
“I lived by the old Churchill's [market] on Central. I would go over and pick up Zach, who lived at Kenwood and Cheltenham, and we would ride over on our bikes over to Jermain at 9 a.