Senior Max Francis has been playing tennis since he was 14 years old. When he is not playing tennis, he can be found at a car show in Newport Beach.

Why did you start playing tennis?

I started playing tennis in sixth grade because my friend Vaughn was taking lessons in Marina Del Rey at a fancy Country Club.  I went with him one time to one of his lessons because his coach said he would teach the both of us. Vaughn was my best friend so we starting playing tennis every day. Then I went to some summer camp at Santa Monica High School where we would play these tennis games and I really learned that I loved the sport.

Do you have any pregame rituals or superstitions?

We had a good one! When I was a freshman, there was a senior named Jack Berner who could do this really good Scottish accent and he would do the battle speech from the movie Braveheart before every game. While the other team would say something like “Calabasas on three,” Jack would stand up and scream out the Braveheart speech. “Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live –– at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!” After the other team finished staring at us, he would stand up and scream “Eagles on three” in a high-pitched voice. I think we scared them.

How tall are you? Is that advantageous in tennis?

I’m 5’6” but 6’4” on a good day. Haven’t had a good day yet, but still hoping. And nah, not really? When you are taller it is easier to serve and hit down on the other team.  

How have you overcome that?

It’s a work in progress if I’m being honest.

Where do you see yourself in 15 years?

Hopefully, I won’t still be in school. I want to go into law, specifically, entertainment law or intellectual property because that is where the cash is at.  I do not want to do like the classic courtroom law type of thing, to be honest. I am just a lot more interested in working at a firm, in the future.

What is the most special experience you have had while playing tennis?

One day in middle school [at the Santa Monica tennis camp] I was playing singles against my friend Vaughn and right when I went to serve, he started yelling that there was a bee next to him. I was hitting the ball right when he started to yell out and somehow it went right past him and hit the bee next to his shoulder. It was wild.

Why do you love cars so much? What is your favorite car?

When I was a kid, I had this little white truck that I carried around with me everywhere. It was my favorite thing in the world, and I started to point out white trucks on the road whenever I saw one after that. I started to do that with other cars I liked, and after a couple of years I began to recognize names and brands. When I was in middle school, I did a final project for eighth grade where I researched super cars and wrote a paper on them, which raised my interest even more. I started to go to shows around Southern California with my dad, and it became a tradition of ours. My favorite car right now is Singer 911, which is where this third-party company takes an old Porsche 911 and puts in a modern engine and reworks it but keeps the old look.

We have been told that you are a lover of Vine. Can you tell us which Vine is your favorite?

My favorite Vine is that one by Evan Breen where he’s like “What’s up me and my boys are going to see Uncle Kracker — give me my hat back Jordan — do you wanna go see Uncle Kracker or no.” Like, the head turn, the hand, the way the hat catches in the window –– it’s a

masterpiece of cinematography.