Lisbon native Tiago Torres has been named Player of the Week by the American Athletic Conference. Last March, Torres won Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week from Conference USA as well as in April 2022. Even with three weekly conference awards under his belt, an unsuspecting Torres credited his team for his accomplishments.
“I didn’t expect to actually win it,” Torres said. “I mean it’s really good to receive an award like that. Me and my team really work hard every day to get better, so it’s really good to receive an award like that. I didn’t expect that surely because we just played once last week.”
Though only playing once last week, Torres won in both his singles on his own and doubles alongside teammate and double partner, Tomás Pinho, to take down the then No.62 Oregon Ducks.
“I’m really proud of myself and it’s my teammates that helped me every day to get better, as well, to receive and to achieve the rewards,” Torres said.
Torres may be surprised to win his third weekly honor, but it’s surely no surprise with the experience the junior has. He has won six national No.1 championships in tennis 18’s and five in tennis 16’s. He has also won the national Portuguese Masters U16 and competed in the Junior Olympics in Győr, Hungary back in 2017. Over the summer, Torres was able to represent his home country of Portugal in the World University Games in China where he competed in both singles and doubles matches.
“It’s not the first time that I represented [my country], but the first time that I represented the country in the [World University Games],” Torres said. “I didn’t know that China was really fun to be in and I really liked it, actually, it was a good experience.”
UTSA’s matches against Rice this past weekend were canceled due to rain, but Torres is currently on a two-win streak in singles and won his most previous doubles match alongside fellow Portuguese teammate Tomas Pinho.
“We just made the number three in the country, so we’re doing good,” Torres said of Pinho. “He’s from my country as well. I’ve known him since we were six or seven. He’s probably one of my best friends in the sport.”
Pinho happens to be Torres’ second doubles partner this season, but the two have found success since their pairing.
“In doubles, you have a teammate. If you’re not playing good, he can help you,” Torres said. “But it depends on the chemistry. Sometimes you’re not playing good and you win matches and you don’t know why, and sometimes you play great and the other guy is way better than you. So it’s hard. It’s a different sport. It’s not just about you, it’s about your opponent. Sometimes you’re playing amazing, but if your opponent is playing better than you [it] doesn’t matter.”
Torres hopes to continue the momentum and earn a spot in the NCAA championship this year.
UTSA men’s tennis will play against Incarnate Word University at 11 a.m. Saturday at the UTSA Tennis Center.
