Written by Student Assistant Julia Baribeau '17
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Senior Sam Bertram (SB) spoke with the Santa Clara Broncos (SCB) about how his experience on the Santa Clara men's tennis team has made him a more disciplined student.
SCB: What did you do this summer to prepare for this season?
SB: In the beginning, I needed a little break because the end of season is quite full on. After about a quarter of the way through with summer, I began running and training again. I also played a couple of tournaments and won one of them with Ilya Osintsev, who plays at the No. 1 doubles position for our team.
SCB: How has your season been going so far?
SB: I have been working really hard on my fitness and on my game. It is all starting to come together and it is definitely paying off. We have a couple of tournaments over the remaining three weekends of October. Hopefully Santa Clara will bring some trophies home!
SCB: What has been the most exciting thing about being a senior on the team?
SB: Nothing much really has changed for me. I'm still an equal part of the team along with everyone else. It's nice to be in a position of leadership to help lift the boys up to achieve things Santa Clara hasn't before. Other than that, senior year on the team will be a blast. We have a fantastic group of fellas.
SCB: What are your goals for the rest of the season?
SB: For the rest of 2014, I hope to play my best tennis – that's all I can possibly want. From this, tournament wins would be a great byproduct. But at this stage, the focus is on developing mental toughness and match fitness.
SCB: How has tennis changed your experience here at Santa Clara?
SB: Firstly, it has made it a lot harder. Just this morning we were at fitness training before the crack of dawn at 6 a.m. Not only is tennis time consuming, it also consumes my mental energy, leaving far less time to study and maintain my GPA at a very hard academic school. Though it is not easy, the rewards will make the effort well worth it. Playing tennis has improved my discipline and time management skills. Additionally, meeting these boys on the team is a great privilege for me. All of them are exemplary people with great talent for tennis. Having these kinds of friends and struggling through the same battle makes it all far more fulfilling.
