Men's Tennis Deepens Roster with Three Additions
12/16/2015 10:17:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Two student-athletes join this spring, one next fall
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida men's tennis announces the addition of three newcomers to the Ospreys. Sahil Deshmukh and Andrey Alawi join the team in the spring, while Dominic Lea begins play for the 2016-17 season.
Â
A native of Pune, India, Deshmukh reached an ITF ranking of 148 and has been in the final of 11 ITF doubles events with eight wins. He also owns two singles wins at ITF matches. At just 15 years old he made the semifinals of the Asian Championships and is one of the top juniors in India.
Â
"Sahil is an extremely gifted tennis player. To have made it inside the top 150 players in the world as a junior at the age of 15 is something extraordinary," said coach Mark Finnegan. "In the past few years he has really put an emphasis on his schooling after dealing with some injuries, but he is 100 percent ready to go now."
Â
Alawi has won Bulgarian National Championships from ages 12-16 in singles and doubles play. He finished as a runner up in the under-18 field and was a doubles champion as well. A representative for Bulgaria at the European championships two times, he owns against world-ranked No. 33 Coric and No. 74 Zverev. Alawi has a sister who played at the University of South Carolina and is now an assistant coach at FIU.
Â
"Andrey is from an amazing tennis family," said Finnegan. "Assistant coach Malte Stropp went over to see him play last summer and was blown away by the potential he has. We are excited to see how he does in the states where he has a consistent tennis schedule that allows him to discover his true talent."
Â
Lea comes from Repton, an exclusive private school in England, where he is one of the most decorated athletes to represent the school. He serves as the team's captain and has been the schools No. 1 player since the age of 14. He won his county championships in seniors and junior in the summer of 2015. Lea was a qualifier for the Road to Wimbledon and is the Cambridgeshire men's champion.
Â
"We could not be more excited about adding Dominic. He fits in personality wise with the type of player we are recruiting to UNF," said Finnegan. "Dominic is an athlete that is going to explode out here with the structure of college tennis. He has never really emphasized his tennis as much as he will in the next few years so it will be intriguing to see what he is capable of."
Â
"To add Deshmukh this spring and the other two next fall to an already talented roster is extremely exciting," added Finnegan. "Our depth will be exceptional moving forward. Our goal is always to recruit players who are obsessed with tennis and like to work hard. We feel like this type of player will do well with the UNF academic challenges as well as our coaching philosophy."
Â
The Ospreys kick off their championship season on Saturday, Jan. 16 at Wake Forest at 10 a.m. They will then stay on the road to travel to SEC foe Tennessee on Monday, Jan. 18.
Â
Â
A native of Pune, India, Deshmukh reached an ITF ranking of 148 and has been in the final of 11 ITF doubles events with eight wins. He also owns two singles wins at ITF matches. At just 15 years old he made the semifinals of the Asian Championships and is one of the top juniors in India.
Â
"Sahil is an extremely gifted tennis player. To have made it inside the top 150 players in the world as a junior at the age of 15 is something extraordinary," said coach Mark Finnegan. "In the past few years he has really put an emphasis on his schooling after dealing with some injuries, but he is 100 percent ready to go now."
Â
Alawi has won Bulgarian National Championships from ages 12-16 in singles and doubles play. He finished as a runner up in the under-18 field and was a doubles champion as well. A representative for Bulgaria at the European championships two times, he owns against world-ranked No. 33 Coric and No. 74 Zverev. Alawi has a sister who played at the University of South Carolina and is now an assistant coach at FIU.
Â
"Andrey is from an amazing tennis family," said Finnegan. "Assistant coach Malte Stropp went over to see him play last summer and was blown away by the potential he has. We are excited to see how he does in the states where he has a consistent tennis schedule that allows him to discover his true talent."
Â
Lea comes from Repton, an exclusive private school in England, where he is one of the most decorated athletes to represent the school. He serves as the team's captain and has been the schools No. 1 player since the age of 14. He won his county championships in seniors and junior in the summer of 2015. Lea was a qualifier for the Road to Wimbledon and is the Cambridgeshire men's champion.
Â
"We could not be more excited about adding Dominic. He fits in personality wise with the type of player we are recruiting to UNF," said Finnegan. "Dominic is an athlete that is going to explode out here with the structure of college tennis. He has never really emphasized his tennis as much as he will in the next few years so it will be intriguing to see what he is capable of."
Â
"To add Deshmukh this spring and the other two next fall to an already talented roster is extremely exciting," added Finnegan. "Our depth will be exceptional moving forward. Our goal is always to recruit players who are obsessed with tennis and like to work hard. We feel like this type of player will do well with the UNF academic challenges as well as our coaching philosophy."
Â
The Ospreys kick off their championship season on Saturday, Jan. 16 at Wake Forest at 10 a.m. They will then stay on the road to travel to SEC foe Tennessee on Monday, Jan. 18.
Â
2018 Championship Recap
Thursday, August 30
Ospreys 2016-2017 Year-in-Review
Saturday, July 01
2017 Student-Athlete Banquet Highlights
Monday, April 24
2016-2017 UNF Student Athlete Awards Banquet - Highlight Tape
Friday, April 21
