Recent College Players That Turned Pro

TopDawg

TopDawg

G.O.A.T.
Robert Farah #246: USC Trojan won his first tour level matches this week beating former Tulsa Hurricane Arnau Brugues and world # 38 Pablo Andujar in Barcelona

Daniel Kosakowski #315: UCLA Bruin has won 1 final and made 3 QF this year in futures. Beat Steve Johnson last June to win Sacramento Future. Last year won a main draw match in Los Angeles Classic.

JP Smith #349: Tennessee Vol has won 1 future made 2 finals and made 2 Challenger QFs.

Rhyne Williams #365: Tennessee Vol plays Ryan Sweeting tomorrow in QF at Savannah Challenger. Qualified for Indian Wells and lost 6-4 in the 3rd to #86 ranked Frederico Gil.

Blake Strode #384: Arkansas Razorback plays Peter Polansky tomorrow in QF at Savannah Challenger. Won 2 Futures in last year.

Tennys Sandgren #404: Tennessee Vol has won 4 futures in the last 9 months including one last week. Will be around 360 next week

Sanam Singh #446: Virginia Cav won back to back to back futures in India recently.

Amazing that Tennessee had 3 players in the current top 400 and couldn't make it past the quarterfinals last year. Feel free to add to the list for other players that you remember that went pro in the last 2 years or so.
 
F

floridatennisdude

Hall of Fame
Sekou Bangoura Jr - #800, 7-10 overall and has yet to make it out of the second round in a Futures event in 2012. Has earned $1594 in prize money this season.

Great decision to turn pro
 
jaggy

jaggy

Talk Tennis Guru
Dominic Inglot, England, played at UVA now 141 in doubles playing with Treat Huey, Philipines and also from UVA, currently 44 in doubles.
 
J

josofo

Semi-Pro
steve johnson is ranked 368, if he had turned pro based on his early results i think he would be ranked around 200 by now.

other notable players

devin britton is ranked way up at 614.

austin krajick at 449
 
V

volstennis

New User
John Peers (Baylor/Middle Tennessee): 511 in singles but made final in $15k Futures in Little Rock last week. 159 in doubles.

Peers & JP Smith have been practically lights out in doubles this year. They've won 3 Challenger titles in 2012. JP is 180 in doubles.
 
G

Gatorluver

New User
floridatennisdude said:
Sekou Bangoura Jr - #800, 7-10 overall and has yet to make it out of the second round in a Futures event in 2012. Has earned $1594 in prize money this season.

Great decision to turn pro
Click to expand...

One of the worst decisions ever! Sad thing is he was happy and doing well in school. He was pushed to turn pro by his family.
 
V

Vicious Vik

Semi-Pro
Sanam Singh was doing well in Indian futures. I saw him play in one of them when I was over visiting family in India. He lookd very sharp and even quicker than he was in college. I will be pulling for him to make the ATP level.
 
R

Rob_C

Hall of Fame
Vicious Vik said:
Sanam Singh was doing well in Indian futures. I saw him play in one of them when I was over visiting family in India. He lookd very sharp and even quicker than he was in college. I will be pulling for him to make the ATP level.
Click to expand...

He looks a little short to me, slight as well. Reminds me of Yuki Bhambri, who did well at the Futures level, but hasnt really made strides at the higher levels.
 
R

Rob_C

Hall of Fame
Gatorluver said:
One of the worst decisions ever! Sad thing is he was happy and doing well in school. He was pushed to turn pro by his family.
Click to expand...

According to TCF, the family is education 1st, tennis 2nd, as far as priorities. Supposedly Sekou had to guarantee his Dad he would finish his degree for the Dad to sign off on him turning pro.
 
D

duusoo

Rookie
Did the player from LSU a couple of years ago give it a run, I think his name was Venus or something like that?
 
C

ClarkC

Hall of Fame
duusoo said:
Did the player from LSU a couple of years ago give it a run, I think his name was Venus or something like that?
Click to expand...

Michael Venus of New Zealand.

Currently #413. Last activity was a loss in Davis Cup to Uzbekistan in February. Beat Robert Kendrick in the Honolulu Challenger in January in his previous action, before losing to Denis Kudla.
 
B

BHSC

New User
jaggy said:
Dominic Inglot, England, played at UVA now 141 in doubles playing with Treat Huey, Philipines and also from UVA, currently 44 in doubles.
Click to expand...


For what it's worth, Huey is as American as they come, from Alexandria, Va.

His mother is from the Philippines. He's listed as Philippines now, so that he can play Davis Cup. Plus, their federation helps out with some expenses.

Another Philippines Davis Cupper is Ruben Gonzales, a small town Indiana kid who played at Illinois. He's been playing mostly futures this year.
 
S

SoCal10s

Hall of Fame
BHSC said:
For what it's worth, Huey is as American as they come, from Alexandria, Va.

His mother is from the Philippines. He's listed as Philippines now, so that he can play Davis Cup. Plus, their federation helps out with some expenses.

Another Philippines Davis Cupper is Ruben Gonzales, a small town Indiana kid who played at Illinois. He's been playing mostly futures this year.
Click to expand...

great idea for players with foreign heritage to play Davis Cup for parent's home country ,they would never get a chance to do otherwise.. play a few more years after college,make some contacts,get ready for real life down the road..
 
T

TennisFan2Day

Rookie
Gatorluver said:
One of the worst decisions ever! Sad thing is he was happy and doing well in school. He was pushed to turn pro by his family.
Click to expand...

I agree. He was always fun to watch and seemed like he was really enjoying it there.

Most people don't know that Sekou is a scratch golfer and could easily get a golf scholarship.
 
jaggy

jaggy

Talk Tennis Guru
BHSC said:
For what it's worth, Huey is as American as they come, from Alexandria, Va.

His mother is from the Philippines. He's listed as Philippines now, so that he can play Davis Cup. Plus, their federation helps out with some expenses.

Another Philippines Davis Cupper is Ruben Gonzales, a small town Indiana kid who played at Illinois. He's been playing mostly futures this year.
Click to expand...

Thanks and smiling at "as American as they come". Lots of mileage there haha
 
goober

goober

Legend
SoCal10s said:
great idea for players with foreign heritage to play Davis Cup for parent's home country ,they would never get a chance to do otherwise.. play a few more years after college,make some contacts,get ready for real life down the road..
Click to expand...

It may be good for the players, however I don't really like the idea of players playing for a country that they did not grow up in, they don't currently live there, did not train there and the only connection that they have is one of their parents is from that country.
 
A

andfor

Legend
goober said:
It may be good for the players, however I don't really like the idea of players playing for a country that they did not grow up in, they don't currently live there, did not train there and the only connection that they have is one of their parents is from that country.
Click to expand...

Why not? The U.S. college system gives scholarships to international students to play tennis. For some low ranked kid who has no chance of cracking his DC team, what the difference will it make?

Alex Bogomolov U.S. citizen recently decided to play DC for Russia. The USTA made him repay them for the support they provided him. I believe the amount was $75,000.
 
S

SoCal10s

Hall of Fame
goober said:
It may be good for the players, however I don't really like the idea of players playing for a country that they did not grow up in, they don't currently live there, did not train there and the only connection that they have is one of their parents is from that country.
Click to expand...

real life .. you take what ever is given to you... if other countries are so hard up to give you a free ride on DC team why not.. it's not like these players have a real chance to beat the USA team,if they were really that good ,I'm sure they would rather play for team USA .. this is professional sports ..it's just mere entertainment... extending your sports life expectancy to entertain people who would support you,I see nothing wrong with that ,,it's not like they are expected to save the free world..
 
goober

goober

Legend
andfor said:
Why not? The U.S. college system gives scholarships to international students to play tennis. For some low ranked kid who has no chance of cracking his DC team, what the difference will it make?

.
Click to expand...

What is the purpose of DC? It is an international competition of tennis between countries. Someone who is not a citizen, did not grow up in a country and does not currently reside there IMO should not be a representative of that country in international competitions. True it may not make any difference in the big picture" of outcomes since these are usually weak tennis countries, but it violates the spirit of the competition. If Indonesia plays a DC match against the Phillipines and their opponents are all US citizens that are basically Americans, that only show up in the Phillipines when there is a match, did Indonesia really play the Phillipines or a low level American squad? Is that really a match between 2 countries or a match between one country and basically foreign mercenaries?

US college competition is between colleges. Citizenship is irrelevant. International students have been in the US basically for its entire history. I don't see how having foreign students on scholarship is any way related.
 
Last edited:
T

tennismonster

Rookie
goober said:
It may be good for the players, however I don't really like the idea of players playing for a country that they did not grow up in, they don't currently live there, did not train there and the only connection that they have is one of their parents is from that country.
Click to expand...

Robert Farah...Canadian born played US College Tennis for SC, now represents Colombia in DC

This happens in the olympic too..didnt we(The US) take Bernard Lagat from Kenya, who was born an raised in Kenya, I believed competed for Kenya? If its allowed to happen at the olympic level and the olympic committee is okay with it...
 
goober

goober

Legend
tennismonster said:
Robert Farah...Canadian born played US College Tennis for SC, now represents Colombia in DC

This happens in the olympic too..didnt we(The US) take Bernard Lagat from Kenya, who was born an raised in Kenya, I believed competed for Kenya? If its allowed to happen at the olympic level and the olympic committee is okay with it...
Click to expand...

Barnard Lagat came to the US in 1998, lives here and has been a naturalized citizen since 2004. He started competing for the US after that. I am completely ok with this. If somebody moves to another country, resides there and becomes a citizen there is no problem in my view.
 
T

tennismonster

Rookie
goober said:
Barnard Lagat came to the US in 1998, lives here and has been a naturalized citizen since 2004. He started competing for the US after that. I am completely ok with this. If somebody moves to another country, resides there and becomes a citizen there is no problem in my view.
Click to expand...

It is all over though man..i feel you...I mean we have tons of people come to the US to train and compete for their country of origin, Sharapova i believe was a bollettieri kid? Not exactly sure if she's a naturalized citizen but I do remember her playing Russian Fedcup previously..Nishikori was a bollettieri kid also, or to my knowledge trains there...playing for Japan
 
goober

goober

Legend
tennismonster said:
It is all over though man..i feel you...I mean we have tons of people come to the US to train and compete for their country of origin, Sharapova i believe was a bollettieri kid? Not exactly sure if she's a naturalized citizen but I do remember her playing Russian Fedcup previously..Nishikori was a bollettieri kid also, or to my knowledge trains there...playing for Japan
Click to expand...

JLyon said:
Liezel Huber switched from S Africa to US
Martina Navratilova Czech to US
Click to expand...

Not the same thing. If you come to this country and train and then go play for your home country. That is fine.

Martina and Huber both are US citizens and have live here for a long time. If you move to another country, become a citizen there, you have the right to represent it.

If you are born here and raised here, you do not reside in the country you are representing and are not a citizen there then why are you representing them?
 
atatu

atatu

Legend
Dimitar Kutrovsky, recent UT grad, is up to 351 on the computer, I think he won a round at the SAP open earlier this year....
 
S

slice bh compliment

G.O.A.T.
tennismonster said:
...Nishikori was a bollettieri kid also, or to my knowledge trains there...playing for Japan
Click to expand...

I like your logic.
I would like it even more for a kid like Maria Sharapova or Tommy Haas, whose nationalities are Russian and German, but let's be honest, they've been Florida kids for most of their lives.

Nishikori, too, but I feel he is Japanese. He still has the accent. I think accent governs it all, :)!
I can fake a French accent really well. Unfortunately, I would never have made their Davis Cup team. Maybe Martinique or Tahiti, haha.

Well, to each his own. As a college player who played some circuits, I totally see why they just want to play SOME Davis Cup or Olympics.

I also feel it's odd how one country's foreigners are better than another's haha. Or one college's European and South American players are better than another's European and South American players.
It's like the Dominican dudes on one MLB team are better than the Dominican dudes on the other. Different, of course...that's not nationalities, that's a professional league based in the US.

But that doesn't stop me from thinking it's funny. Like when a corporate softball team has a 'shippin' clerk who played AAA baseball, ahha.
 
F

floridatennisdude

Hall of Fame
goober said:
Not the same thing. If you come to this country and train and then go play for your home country. That is fine.

Martina and Huber both are US citizens and have live here for a long time. If you move to another country, become a citizen there, you have the right to represent it.

If you are born here and raised here, you do not reside in the country you are representing and are not a citizen there then why are you representing them?
Click to expand...

If his parents were citizens of another country and he was born in the US, he is a dual citizen. Just like if an American couple moves overseas maintaining American citizenship, then has a child in a foreign country. The kid has dual citizenship at birth. Maybe even triple if each parent was a citizen of separate countries. As I recall from high school social studies.

As long as the paperwork is kept up with and taxes paid dually, it's legal. Not sure what the beef is with having him choose the DC Cup team where he can have an impact. To each their own IMO.
 
Last edited:
D

double barrels

Rookie
TopDawg said:
Robert Farah #246: USC Trojan won his first tour level matches this week beating former Tulsa Hurricane Arnau Brugues and world # 38 Pablo Andujar in Barcelona

Daniel Kosakowski #315: UCLA Bruin has won 1 final and made 3 QF this year in futures. Beat Steve Johnson last June to win Sacramento Future. Last year won a main draw match in Los Angeles Classic.

JP Smith #349: Tennessee Vol has won 1 future made 2 finals and made 2 Challenger QFs.

Rhyne Williams #365: Tennessee Vol plays Ryan Sweeting tomorrow in QF at Savannah Challenger. Qualified for Indian Wells and lost 6-4 in the 3rd to #86 ranked Frederico Gil.

Blake Strode #384: Arkansas Razorback plays Peter Polansky tomorrow in QF at Savannah Challenger. Won 2 Futures in last year.

Tennys Sandgren #404: Tennessee Vol has won 4 futures in the last 9 months including one last week. Will be around 360 next week

Sanam Singh #446: Virginia Cav won back to back to back futures in India recently.

Amazing that Tennessee had 3 players in the current top 400 and couldn't make it past the quarterfinals last year. Feel free to add to the list for other players that you remember that went pro in the last 2 years or so.
Click to expand...

I really like Williams and Kosakowski
Kosakowski especially, I watched a good bit of youtube videos of him practicing with older pros, I really like his singles game. Williams can hit winners of both wings, and has a heavy and accurate game. One of these guys will get close to 100 within the next 2 years, if not break that.
 
TopDawg

TopDawg

G.O.A.T.
Devin Britton has finally started playing better - he's into the semis of a Mexico futures this week. His record is 15-6 so far this year.
 
V

volstennis

New User
JP Smith won both titles today at the Vero Beach Futures. That's his first singles title of 2012 & fifth in doubles. Lots of former college guys the next couple weeks in Florida.
 
T

treeman10

Semi-Pro
Zoo tennis mentioned blog by Devin Britton, it's a nice read. The second post talking about the practice balls in Mexico is good stuff. Ah, life on the pro circuit - it ain't all glam that's for sure, but entertaining.

http://devinbritton.com/
 
S

Staidhup

New User
Great article! My hat goes off to these players that have the dedication and resolve to persevere in the quest of their dream. The USTA could help financing the futures circuit but their stuck in low gear.
 
F

floridatennisdude

Hall of Fame
treeman10 said:
Interesting read on the financial reality of the futures circuit for these recently turned pros. Link was in zoo tennis, but here it is

http://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/6713?#038;
Click to expand...

Funny that they mention that semi finalist Sandgren was a standout at Tennessee, but not the winner JP Smith. Sandgren was a #4 at UT and Smith a #1/2 that had been ranked #1 most of his junior year. Would think that Smith was the standout.
 
TopDawg

TopDawg

G.O.A.T.
Tennys Sandgren #289 had a nice win yesterday over 124th ranked Benjamin Becker in the Winnetka Challenger - 6-1 6-4. Becker won a match at Wimbledon last week (granted it was versus James Blake). JP Smith #298 and Rhyne Williams #268 also into the 2nd round too. Still amazing that Tennessee wasn't to win a title with those 3 there.
 
TopDawg

TopDawg

G.O.A.T.
JP Smith won the Winnetka Challenger beating world #169 Ricardas Berankis in the final.
Former UCLA Bruin Nick Meister is in the finals of a Canada future after beating #232 Erik Chvojka in the semis.
 
TopDawg

TopDawg

G.O.A.T.
Stevie J came up short in the 2nd round of Qualies in Newport losing to world #486 Charles-Antoine Brezac 6-4 6-7 7-5. I'm guessing he'll be in Atlanta next week.
 
TopDawg

TopDawg

G.O.A.T.
The Binghamton Challenger is loaded with former collegians - Rhyne Williams, Tennys Sandgren, Austin Krajicek, Bradley Klahn, Jeff Dadamo, Greg Ouellette - Draw
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Predicting success of recent college players turned pro?
Replies
9
Views
4K
Tennishacker
T
J
College freshmen do well at LA Future Qualis
Replies
6
Views
2K
Matthew Lee
Matthew Lee
Gonzalito17
Brian Baker continues amazing comeback, wins Savannah!
Replies
10
Views
2K
oceansize42
O
J
Freshman fall-NC fr wins $15K, LSU fr beats Geller and other stories
Replies
32
Views
3K
manirban
manirban
J
College players in US summer Futures and Challengers
8 9 10
Replies
465
Views
14K
andfor
A
Top