Featured photo by MTSU Athletics
Story by Brett Walker
MURFREESBORO, TENN- The Middle Tennessee men’s tennis team (6-4) has found a gem in transfer Leo Raquin. After a hot start to the season, Raquin has found himself as the No. 18 singles player in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
It hasn’t taken the senior transfer from Temple University long to settle in as a Blue Raider. Raquin (6-3) has served as MTSU’s top seed in singles this year and has racked up some impressive wins already.
So far, Raquin has already defeated two ranked opponents, No. 26 Petar Jovanovic of Mississippi State and No. 102 Ryan Fishback of Virginia Tech. Despite his success in singles, Raquin knows that he couldn’t do it alone.
“All of the coaches really know tennis and they know that when they give me advice, I want to listen to them,” Raquin said. “Also, the team, the team chemistry is good. The level everyone is playing at is good, so when we go to practice, I have to be at 100 percent. It pushes me.”
Although he is currently only ranked in singles, Raquin and his doubles partner Ondrej Horak have cruised to a 7-0 start to the season. Horak recognizes the parts of Raquin’s skill set that make him so dangerous for opponents to compete against.
“I would say volleys, returns down the line and overall consistency,” Horak said.
On the coaching side, MTSU head coach Jimmy Borendame has not had to make any major adjustments to Raquin’s game to unlock his potential. Instead, Borendame has instilled professionality in the senior.
“Leo has just basically taken everything he does like, up a notch,” Borendame said. “So, we’ve really just pushed him to become more professional in everything he does, like take his nutrition to another level, rest, take his stretching more seriously and his warmup routine. Like, even now, we’re still trying to get him to, you know, watch his film and his video and get him to use our tennis analytics to learn about his game a little more. He’s extremely talented but we’re just trying to like, sharpen some of his skills.”
Dating back to the fall, Raquin has an astounding 23-6 record. That combined with his recent career-high ITA ranking of 18, would have many looking to a future in professional tennis. As of now, however, aquin is unsure of where tennis lies in his post college future.
“When I first came here, I didn’t want to play professionally, I just wanted to have a better college tennis experience,” Raquin said. “I wanted to play for a top 25 team, so that’s a check on my list. Now after playing very good, I still don’t know. I’ll have to talk about it with my parents. Coach (Borendame) has tried to talk about it with me.”
While his future in tennis is yet to be determined, Raquin knows that being a student must come before being an athlete and is focused on graduating with a degree in finance this spring, much to the pleasure of his family back in Besancon, France.
“My mom, she wants me to graduate, to have a degree, that’s the most important for her,” Raquin said. “I want to graduate. Back in France, yeah, I mean, it costs a lot of money to go on the tour. I need my parents to be ready to help me. I need to find a lot of sponsors and stuff like that. If I want to go pro, I have to be 100 percent focused and ready on this project. I cannot go out or be with my friends or stuff like that. I have to change my mindset. I mean, that’s what I’m doing here. I have to keep doing the same, I have to travel every week. I have to find a coach there. So, it’s going to be a challenge if I try to go professional.”
Even with a lot to look forward to in graduating college and a potential professional career, Raquin remains focused on helping MTSU win this season. He aims to help the team continue its dominance of Conference USA, while bolstering his personal record as a bonus.
Brett Walker is a sportswriter for MTSU Sidelines. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com. Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @mtsusidelines, or on X @MTSUSidelines.
