Rueb's Tennis Journey Has Just Begun

For most senior Harvard athletes, the end of the spring sports season will mark the end of their involvement in competitive athletics--the days of double practices, team meetings and post-game interviews will drift from life into memory.

For Andrew Rueb, captain of the men's tennis team, however, graduation will only be a transition--a transition from playing first singles on the 34th-ranked Harvard squad to playing on the pro satellite tour.

The choice to go pro is not one that most athletes face coming out of college. The prospects of making sport their livelihood, rather than just an extracurricular activity, are daunting, even for those with the talent to compete on the highest level.

Rueb, however, seems to have gotten over any misgivings about tackling the pro circuit and appears confident about his decision.

"Tennis is just something I love," Rueb says. "I'm so excited to be able to play full time finally next year, and I think I can succeed. At worst, I can travel the world and pay for myself."

Still, in the world of competitive tennis, Rueb's path to the pro ranks would hardly be considered conventional. Few professional tennis players arrive on the pro tour with four years of college play, and most of those who do hail from schools like UCLA--a traditional breeding ground for pro tennis talent.

Four years ago, he could have taken that route.

"Basically my choice out of high school was to go to UCLA or here," Rueb said. "It either was going to be tennis, or trying to do both [athletics and academics]."

After his recruiting trip to UCLA and seeing first-hand the academic concerns of a student-athlete there, Rueb made his decision.

"I was thinking [while visiting UCLA] this is just not for me," Rueb says. "I wanted to be able to do both athletics and academics. If I went to UCLA, I might as well have just gone pro.

"Here they don't give you any freebies for being an athlete. You're stuck in with everyone else, and I like that."

Adding to the allure of Harvard were head coach Dave Fish and assistant coaches Greg Russell and RyuIwai--the pillars of a successful program that has won six of the last seven Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association (EITA) championships.

"Most people recognize the fact that they [Fish and Russell] are two of the top coaches in the country," Rueb says. "Dave, Greg and Ryu have a history of making a complete player by the time he graduates and that's why I've improved. I can play Harvard tennis and then play professional tennis and not take a step backwards because the coaching's so good here."

Rueb's development as a player, however, started much earlier than his progress at Palmer Dixon Tennis Courts and Beren Tennis Center.

Rueb, who hails from Pepper Pike, Ohio, started playing competitive tennis in United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments at the age of seven.

"I did well when I was young but it wasn't until I got older that I started rising to the top of the national rankings," Rueb recalls.

By the end of his run on the Juniors circuit, Rueb was ranked as high as 22nd in the nation, and was named high-school All-Americans.

When Rueb arrived in Cambridge, he found himself on a squad that featured three All-Americans--Albert Chang, Mike Shyjan and Mike Zimmerman.

Despite the heavy hitters in front of him, the freshman had an immediate impact and was elected team MVP for his solid play at fifth and sixth singles. Rueb was also a vital cog on a squad that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Georgia.

"Playing Georgia at Georgia in front of 7000 fans was just a huge thrill," Rueb says. "It was just great. That's the kind of stuff you'll never forget."

With the loss of all three All-Americans to graduation, Rueb moved up to first singles in his sophomore year and led the Crimson to its second straight NCAA appearance--where it was ousted in the first round by North Carolina.

By the beginning of Rueb's third year on the squad, he had moved up to 21st in the national collegiate rankings--but his meteoric rise was cut short.

A shoulder injury forced the Adams House resident to the sidelines for the fall season of his junior year, and a nagging knee injury limited his action in the spring.

"Last year was disappointing," Rueb says. "I came off sophomore year playing my best tennis and then had to sit out."

The loss of Rueb and several other key netmen to injury left the Crimson shorthanded, and kept it from capturing the EITA title and earning a bid to the NCAAs.

The injuries prevented Rueb from playing seriously over the summer and even hampered his play this fall as well. However, the Rueb of old has returned this spring.

Rueb, who went undefeated in EITA singles action, was a key force in bringing the EITA crown back to Cambridge, and his play should earn him a bid to the NCAA singles tournament, later this month. Also, he will, in all likelihood, team up with sophomore teammate Mitty Arnold in the doubles tournament. (Official bids have not yet been announced.)

"It took a full year to not only get out of the injuries and get healthy, but to bring my game to where it was before," Rueb says. "Right about now I'm playing better than I was before."

With Rueb healthy, and a host of talented players throughout the Crimson lineup, the team's prospects for a possible NCAA berth are promising.

Regardless of how the team does, though, by month's end Rueb will have played his last points of collegiate tennis. And although he will still be playing tennis next year, some things from his college career will only remain as memories.

While there will still be the big matches and the big points, there will no longer be any Crimson teammates playing on neighboring courts and urging him on from the stands.

"The team, that's what I'm going to miss the most when I'm on the tour--when I'm on my own," Rueb says. "The matches come and go. You win some great ones, and you lose some miserable ones, but what you're left with is the team. That will stay with me forever."