UTSA men’s tennis opened the season with a 3-5 record. Though the team has had an inconsistent start through its first eight games, gaining more experience under new coach Sasha Gozun could prove beneficial for the rest of the season. Gozun is confident in his players and what they can achieve going forward.
“We have a really talented group of guys, and they’ve already shown high potential to reach our goals in the next couple years, so we’re really excited to have them,” Gozun said.
When Gozun was announced as head coach for the men’s tennis program in August, one of his priorities was embracing the five pillars of UTSA Athletics’ culture: resilience, unity, discipline, integrity and adaptability.
“Those are the five things that we talk about nonstop,” Gozun said. “Being adaptable is very important. Resilience is being able to bounce back no matter the issue — win or lose. Unity means being together and creating [a] brotherhood for life. Discipline means there is no such thing as little things. Integrity is just having class. You think about tennis, it’s a classy sport. That’s definitely something that we try to strive for. Giving [opponents] the benefit of the doubt but at the same time, trying to beat the other person.”
Gozun’s coaching philosophy is one that his players have come to appreciate as it has fostered a positive environment for them. His straightforward style has helped the Roadrunners perform at a high level.
“Creating an environment for our players to thrive, that’s the most important thing for me. Just having the safe space for them to talk to someone to discuss classes, discuss tennis, discuss life,” Gozun said. “I tell them this right away as soon as I get here, ‘I’m not here to be your friend. I’m here to be your coach, but at the same time, I want to be as friendly as possible.’ As a coach, you need to know and feel that line of when is the right time to say these certain things and when is the right time to make them accountable for their actions.”
Gozun acknowledges that with the ‘Runners now being in a bigger conference like the American Athletic Conference, the team’s mindset is still the same: Beat the player in front of them.
“The thing about the past program is, they’ve had a lot of success. The past two years, they were top forty in the country. That’s the highest ranking for UTSA’s tennis program ever for a smaller conference like Conference USA,” Gozun said. “Now moving into a bigger conference, we adapted that mentality of ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter what conference we’re in, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing.
“The guys that are three seniors, they have that mentality. They don’t care who they play. That’s what they’re trying to teach the freshmen is that you don’t play a school, you play a person. You play that person’s game. UT, Oklahoma, Greensboro, it doesn’t matter. You always compete against the person on the other side,” Gozun added.
Along with instilling a competitive mindset, Gozun emphasizes academic success for his players. He hopes to help raise the team’s overall GPA.
“When you’re a student-athlete, you’re a student first. For some of the kids on the team, getting a degree is their priority, while for others, ‘it’s a backup plan,’” Gozun said. “It just depends on the type of person we have on the team, but I have a standard of what I want to achieve in the classroom because I think classroom work is really important for them. It teaches them other different skills as well. They understand that they have a support system here. They’ve been pretty successful. We have a 3.4 [GPA] already this past fall.”
Despite the team’s early struggles, Gozun still sees potential with his current players. He wants to see the team’s best players shine this season by encouraging them to pursue a future in professional tennis.
“Tiago [Torres] obviously wants to go on the professional tour. He’s already had some success this year on the tour beating guys who are top 400 ATP,” Gozun said. “I’m excited for him to start that journey. Hopefully, I can help him in any way I can. Danijal [Muminovic] has had tremendous success, and I’m pushing him as well to try professional tennis. Miguel [Alonso] wants to be a professional tennis player as well, so I’m excited for him. Hopefully, we can get him recovered and ready for future matches.”
With these Roadrunners establishing themselves as the best players on the team, there is a significant amount of optimism towards what the rest of the team can accomplish this season and in the future. Going forward, Gozun is thrilled to see how the freshman players perform when they come back next season.
“I’m just excited for all the freshmen for next year. They are getting so much exposure right now with the schedule that we have and the practices that we have,” Gozun said. “They see the competition that we need to beat every day. I’m just excited to see how they’re going to come back from the summer break and what they do in the summer to keep that going.”
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