Tennis spans world
ISSUE: 02/28/07 > sports > tennis spans world
Coaches say international experience and perspective always give a team an edge that puts it ahead of the competition. It creates versatility and depth and presents a team with another level of qualification.
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| Assistant coach Felipe Lima, Brazil |
“In South America, we play on clay courts,” Belmont junior tennis player Ignacio Gesto explained. “Coming to America and playing on hard courts requires that we learn to switch things up and employ different strategy changes.”
Men’s tennis coach Jim Madrigal identifies with such age-old notions and holds them to be true. Over the last five years, he has recruited five international male athletes and brought them to Belmont’s tennis courts. These five young men have been large contributors to the breakthrough success of the Bruins tennis team over the last few years.
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| Junior Ignacio Gesto, Uruguay |
“I grew up in Brazil and started playing tennis when I was 5 years old,” Felipe Lima said. “It was a very exciting thing to be able to come to a new country, learn a new language and play on a college level.”
Lima, now graduated and an assistant coach for the team, is one of the players who led Belmont to its first A-Sun championship in 2006. Alongside were fellow Brazilians Fausto Rocha and Felipe Abreu, Chilean Javier Rodriguez and Uruguayan Gesto.
“It was one of the best experiences of my life when we won the A-Sun last year,” Rocha, a junior, recalls. “We were all very proud.”
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| Senior Felipe Abreu, Brazil |
These players have earned individual honors as well. Rodriguez ranked first on the team his freshman year for 18 singles wins and joined Rocha last year in earning All-Atlantic Sun Second Team honors. Abreu ranks fourth in Belmont Division 1 history with a total of 45 career singles wins. During his career, Lima was selected to the All-Atlantic Sun First Team three times, set four Belmont Division 1 records and enjoyed 52 singles victories. Gesto has also received A-Sun All-Academic honors.
Despite the team’s recent success, players remain focused with hopes for a bright future.
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| Senior Felipe Abreu, Brazil |
“Yeah, we have a good record, but it’s all about repetition,” Rodriguez said.
“Now that the irreplaceable Felipe Lima is gone, we have to all notice our challenges and step up,” Abreu said. “We want another A-Sun championship!”
The team is quickly recognizing its new challenges. After losing to both ETSU and UALR, the men were able to come back and beat St. Louis, the first victory of the season.
The next home game at Belmont’s Davis Tennis Complex is 1 p.m. March 16 against Gardner-Webb.
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