Player Profiles - Lynn Kiro and Macie Medeiros

March 27, 2023

The 2023 Women’s National Champions Lynn Kiro and Macie Medeiros only just partnered up in December. The team was successful from the start. They won the Long Island Invitational and the Philly Open, were finalists at the Short Hills Grand Prix and semifinalists at two other Grand Prix events, and figured out the riddle of Florentina Hanisch and Ana Marija Zubori three other times. In the Nationals finals, they battled Roxy Enica and Gabi Niculescu for three sets in a wintry mix.

Kiro is the Director of Racquets at Roxiticus Golf Club in Mendham, N.J. She is also the 2023 Mixed National Champion (with Sven Burus). Medeiros is the Director of Racquets at Rolling Hills Country Club in Wilton, CT. They discuss a newfound appreciation of self-care, explain their ability to think positively in tough situations, and reveal a little of what happened at the after-Nationals gathering.

Training Regimen
Macie We are on the court anywhere from 4-8 hours a day so that is our workout. I’m trying to commit to getting into better shape next season. In the summer, I play pickleball two or three times a week, which helps my paddle game with reactions.
Lynn  I go to the gym one, two, or three times a week when I commit to it. Over the summer playing a bunch of pickleball and teaching tennis helps with overall on-court conditioning. I go to PT once a week to do preventive care for my whole body.
Macie Lynn has been a great inspiration to do self-care and recovery work, like getting a massage or taking an Epsom salt bath.

On Court Time
Macie One thing I enjoyed is we made a legitimate commitment to block off Tuesdays afternoons so we could take turns going back and forth to our clubs. Sven has been nice enough to drill with us, his assistant Diego [Agudelo], and Mislav [Colak], Mikk’s [Irdoja] assistant will play against us. Being able to practice together once a week has been a game-changer.
Lynn When we first started practicing together, we worked on a lot of positioning, more so at the net. Match play helps so much. We played a bunch with Diego and Mislav. We also use the early rounds of a tournament to work on parts of our game.
Macie We also both drill separately. Lynn drills with Sven, I’ll drill with MC Visser, Felipe Osses-Konig, and Karl Levanat.

Firsts
Lynn Our first tournament together this season was the Long Island Tournament in December. My previous partner Elisaveta [Lalic] was five months pregnant and stopped playing after Chicago. I noticed Macie wasn’t there and Marcela [Rodezno] was playing with Liz Cruz. Macie and I texted afterward, and I decided to shoot my shot and it worked out.
Macie Right. Marcela and I decided not to play together, so Lynn and I said, “Let’s play.” And the LI tournament went pretty well. We won.
Lynn Not too shabby for our first tournament together this year.

Teamwork
Macie We are both really offensive and, luckily, Lynn is both offensive and consistent. I think you just have to feel each other out. If I know she’s feeling it, she’s going for a little bit more, I know I have to back off a little bit and let her go. If I start to feel it a little bit, she lets me go.
Lynn With us, and because matches go up and down, there are times when one of us is not being as aggressive, and the other steps up and takes on that role. I think we complement each other well in that way.
Macie It’s not really a conversation on the court. It’s just something we feel.

Favorite Shot
Macie Depends on the day if it’s the forehand or backhand drive, you never know. In the Nationals final, I hit several great point-ending backhands, but I also hit the side-wire on the fly and made the crowd jump…not great. I love hitting overheads with different spins and combinations—that is fun for me.
Lynn I like my forehand and my serve. Sometimes my serve doesn’t feel that big but I can see how effective it is when I go back and watch film. I definitely enjoy being at the net and would love my waterfall to be as good as Sven’s someday.
Macie Lynn has the biggest serve on tour. I like being on her side.

Fans
Macie It was a good atmosphere. Most of our fans were our friends who played, like Vic Cran and Lindsey Hershel, and the men. Also, several of Marcela’s members from Easton Racquet Club have come to many of the tournaments this year. I’ve gotten to know them well over the years so they stayed around and watched. This whole back end of the season, as long as I wasn’t playing against Marcela, they would root for me. They are good people and I’m glad I’ve gotten to know them.
Lynn Larry Cornacchia from Long Island came to every tournament this season. In the past, he traveled everywhere with Mikk and Sven, but I think it’s safe to say he’s found new prospects. Sasa Burus watches every one of our matches even if it means staying up until 4:00 AM in Switzerland. Sven is at every match as long as he’s not playing. Bernie Schoeman and MC are also special to me as they’re my South African boys. I cannot even begin to say how much support I’ve gotten from my Roxiticus Golf Club, Essex Fells Country Club, and Montclair Golf Club crew. It feels great to have such a big support system.
Macie My new members at Rolling Hills were watching it at the club and screaming at the TV. After we won, Jared Herman, a captain of one of the men’s teams made me the Dunkin’ Donut trophy because we served up donuts and bagels. He made Lynn the “Ferrari Drive From Hell’ award. They are now displayed in our paddle hut.

Weather Conditions
Lynn I think it’s fun playing in different conditions. At the end of the day, all four players are competing in the same conditions and it comes down to which team can handle them the best.
Macie Luckily enough we had just played Kerri [Delmonico] and Lauren [Gebbia] in the same conditions the night before. As tough as those conditions can be, at the end of the day, you stop and look around and think. “How cool is this.” We’re playing paddle in the snow on a Saturday night and everyone is watching. You just feel very lucky. Even though it means sometimes you look up and you can’t see, or you have to hit a little bit differently. I thought it was cool. When the match was suspended, we just kept hitting and we didn’t lose our rhythm.
Lynn At first when they wanted to break, I didn’t want to stop because we had the momentum going. But then I looked at it in a different way. It reminded me of my days on the Tennis Tour when my opponents would take a medical timeout to stop the momentum. My only goal at that moment was to stay mentally locked in, which is why we stayed on the court.

National Champions
Macie The two championships were very different. This one was much more of a satisfying feeling versus a rush. The first one at Darien people could say “She had the home crowd behind her.” This one was just solidifying and the partnership with Lynn and I feels so strong. I can’t wait to see what next year brings. Both wins were very exciting and both made me very happy. The women’s game has improved tremendously in the last couple of years, and I think it’s even harder to win now than it was just a few years ago. I’m very proud of what Lynn and I have accomplished so far.
Lynn This win was very special to me because it was my first National Championship. That was my goal starting the season. I truly believed I could do it but the first part of the season was a little rocky for me. I told Sven I wasn’t looking forward to playing Nationals in Chicago because of my results at Charities. I was glad to switch the narrative. There is nothing like a National Championship—it feels amazing.

Post Nationals
Macie Everyone went out together. Roxy, Gabi, Marcela, Liz, Louis Volclair was in charge that is how you know it was good, my husband Ryan, MC, Bernie, and Anton Protsenko. We texted Gabi and Roxy the next day and said thanks so much for coming out with us. Gabi said she hadn’t done that in years. That was so much fun. Being together with everyone at the end of the tournament is always the best part, win or lose.
Lynn It was such a fun time. I was feeling it the next day. Roxy knows how to get down on the dance floor. I didn’t know she had that side to her, but I love it.
Macie There was an Irish bar that somehow had club music.
Lynn It was called Teddy O’Brien’s, and after midnight, they bring out the DJ and everyone was dancing.
Macie They were blowing the smoke fog. Lynn went up to the DJ and told him we just won Nationals and requested our song. He gave us a shout-out.
Lynn Our song is by Meduza, called Bad Memories. They are coming to New York this summer, so we are super stoked for that. That’s been our song ever since our first tournament. That is one of the ways we connected off the bat. I’m a big music person, so as soon as I saw Macie’s playlist, I swiped right.

Photos by @garrisonblock