LAKELAND — Celebration’s Bekzod Jalilov was the heavily favored No. 1 seed heading into the district tournament, and deep into the second set, it appeared as if Jalilov about to pull off a one-sided, straight set victory over Dylan Mitchell.
The George Jenkins senior, however, wasn’t going to go down easy, especially after he was upset in the county final. Mitchell rallied, fended off multiple match points and rallied for a 1-6, 7-6 (7-3) 10-6 victory to cap his high school career as a district champion at No. 1 singles.
Mitchell is The Ledger’s 2026 Boys Tennis Player of the Year.
After losing the first set, 6-1, Mitchell trailed 4-1 in the second set. He rallied for a 5-4 lead, fell behind again and was down 5-6, 15-40. He saved six match points the rest of the set before tying the set to force the tiebreaker, which he won to even the match.
“I was really just thinking this could be my last high school match, so I’m going to give absolutely everything to the next,” Mitchell said. “If it has to be the next hour, I’m going to give everything and every single point, and I’m just going to go after the ball. I’m not going to play passive because if I lose, I lose, but if I play how I want to play and I lose, I’m happy. But if I start getting tight and I just started pushing the ball, I I don’t want to lose that way or win that way. So I’m happy with the result. I’m happy with my, my mentality during the match. There was definitely some moments where I probably could have gave up, but I’m very happy I didn’t.”
The district title practically makes up for the county tournament. Mitchell defeated Winter Haven’s Everett Whitehead, 6-2, 6-4, in an early-season match. A rematch was slated for the No. 1 singles final after Mitchell won the West County title, and Whitehead won East County.
The match, scheduled for 3 p.m. was rescheduled for noon as Mitchell had a mandatory class at Polk State at 3. Whitehead played one of his best matches of the season and upset Mitchell to take the overall county title.
Mitchell didn’t make excuses.
“It’s part of tennis,” he said. “I’ve never lost a county final before. I’ve won the last 3 years. I won it at No. 3. I’ve won it at 2 twice, and then I thought I was going to win at 1, but Everett played a good match that day.”
Except for the county final, Mitchell was unbeaten in the county. With Ben Saltman and Nico Kumria gone, Mitchell had established himself as the top boys tennis player in Polk County. He was undefeated in the regular season. His closest matches during the season were two 6-2, 6-4 wins, one over Whitehead and the other Lakeland’s Zach Kossen.
Mitchell cruised to the final in the West County tournament before defeating Kossen in the final. The district victory allowed Mitchell to play in the state tournament and helped make up for the loss at county.
“It’s big because going from a loss in a match I should have definitely won to winning a match that I was really expected not to win, it’s a big deal,” Mitchell said. “In my tennis career outside of high school, I’ve had these close matches with good players and just haven’t been able to pull through every time. It was good to finally see some resilience out there where everything came together in one match.”
Mitchell lost his match at state but that did not take anything away from his season.
“It was a good time,” he said. “I should have won my match. I lost 9-3 in the third set. But I wasn’t playing that good. I didn’t have the best day, but I was just happy to be there.”
There’s no doubt that the district win was the No. 1 highlight of his career but a close second came when he was a sophomore. His win was the fourth win over Winter Haven that clinched the match.
“We were losing everywhere else, and it was my match that clinched it,” he said. “I played my best match of the year.”
Mitchell’s tennis career isn’t over. He is headed to LaGrange, an NCAA Division III school in Georgia, where he’ll major in something business related.
“Just so I can build off of that because ultimately I want to be a firefighter,” he said.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Player of the year Mitchell’s upset win at districts is top highlight
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger | USA TODAY Network
