MEN'S TENNIS: Squad full of international players starts season

The San Diego State men's tennis team could form a small-scale United Nations if it was necessary.

With half of its players born internationally, the team is composed of Russian, German, Ecuadoran, Israeli, and of course, American descents.

In no way, though, is this diversity by coincidence. After all, seven of the NCAA Division I men's tennis current top-10 players were born outside of the United States.

"If you want to have quality players to fill your roster, you're going to have, at least partially, an international team," six-year head coach Gene Carswell said.

SDSU earned a 13-12 record last season, its 11th consecutive winning season. Although the team was defeated by New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference Semifinals, the 57th-ranked Aztecs were among 60 men's tennis programs selected to take part in the inaugural Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Draft for next year's ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago.

"We're very pleased to have that be an accomplishment that kind of carries over a little bit from the work that we did last year as a group," Carswell said.

Nonetheless, SDSU is not settling for mere accomplishments. Instead, its fundamental goal is to win the conference championship in April.

"I think that we're hungry," freshman Luis Rattenhuber said. "We're ready to make a serious challenge for our conference championship this upcoming year. That's going to be a big goal for us."

Events leading up to the start of the season are the simultaneously occurring All-American Collegiate Classic in Tulsa, Okla., and the Bulldog Classic in Fresno, as well as the ITA West Regional Championships in Malibu. Because of their capacities, coaches and players look forward to these tournaments. They give the team an opportunity to make a name for itself.

"We've gotten a year older (and) we've gotten a year wiser," Carswell said of his team that returns every player from last year's squad. "I think the ability was there (last year), I just don't quite think the mind-set and maturity was there."

While the regular season does not begin until next year when the Aztecs host UC Riverside on Jan. 21, players are also participating in individual tournaments for personal growth. In the end, their performances will directly impact their position in the six-men lineup come regular-season play.

A handful of players have already participated in the USTA Futures Qualifying Tournament. The first weekend was held in Irvine, Calif. and the second one in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Of all the SDSU players, senior Bartosz Golas advanced the furthest, making it to the second weekend of action.

The Aztecs' next tournaments are the All-American Collegiate and Bulldog Classics, scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 3.

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Verify you are human:

Enter the characters in the image above: