The Oregon men’s tennis team is made up of players from across the country and the globe, united in Eugene around the universal language of sports. Most have been playing tennis since they were five years old, with some even younger. Some had connections with former players. Some see more action on the court than others, but they all have their eyes on the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.

Russell Soohoo is a senior from San Diego who learned tennis from his grandfather around the age of 5 or 6. It was around age 11 or 12 when Soohoo realized he was serious about tennis.

Soohoo practiced with Oregon all-time singles wins leader Jayson Amos, who played for Oregon 10 years ago. Amos connected Soohoo to head coach Nils Schyllander. He suffered a knee injury his senior year of high school, which led him to take a gap year before coming to Eugene. 

“It took a good couple of months of rehab to get physically better,” Soohoo said. “And of course it took a little bit to get the mental part of it back and get into that competing mindset.”

Soohoo has not been in the lineup consistently. He’s been on the court for eight singles matches, seven of which he won, while the other went unfinished. He’s been in one doubles match, which he and Declan Galligan won 6-1.

Lachlan Robertson learned tennis from his older brother around age 3 or 4. He played tennis, soccer and basketball before sticking to tennis at age 7 and never took time off. The native of Vancouver, British Columbia, spent a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest for tournaments. 

“Being an athlete myself,” Robertson said, “I’ve always been drawn to Oregon as a massive powerhouse to be a part of, and it was just a dream come true when I first started talking to Nils and Arron (Spencer) to join the team here.” 

Robertson’s favorite moment of his career came Feb. 6 against Utah State University when he clinched a 3-3 match for the first time in his career to give the Ducks the win. He was in a tight battle his entire match. The first round was tied at five before Robertson pulled ahead to win 7-5. His opponent responded by taking the next round and the back-and-forth fight continued all the way through the winner-take-all round, in which Robertson emerged victorious.

Vlad Breazu’s journey began across the ocean in Romania. He did karate at age 5, and his coach recommended he try tennis. 

“A new club opened up nearby,” Breazu said, “and my parents took me to some lessons and I fell in love with it and started playing more often.” 

Breazu first came to the U.S. when he was 15 and spent a year in Florida at a training academy. He saw Oregon as a place where college athletes go to succeed. 

“I really wanted to play for a big athletic school,” Breazu said. “That was a big thing in my mind. I wanted to play in a very powerful conference with a great schedule.”

Breazu met former Oregon player Thomas Laurent at a tournament in Europe, which is how he first learned about the university. 

“He came over to me and asked me if I’m interested in going to college,” Breazu said, “and told me about Oregon.”

Common highlights among the players include last year’s 4-3 upset win over Illinois, and the Pac-12 tournament victory over UCLA. The players are not concerned about their individual success as much as they are in how they can help the team.

“We are a team really close with each other and just trying to do everything,” Pierre Mouesca said following the Ducks’ Feb. 13 win over Liberty University. “Even outside of tennis with each other and you can feel it whenever we’re on court, we’re having a lot of fun.”

Oregon faces the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, on March 1 before opening Big Ten play against Illinois on March 6.