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Tennys Sandgren- The Kid With The Awesome Name

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#1 ·
Tennys Sandgren Thread

Gallatin, Tennessee

Home Educated
Senior, Class of 2010

He has a name that sounds like the game and it's working well for Tennys Sandgren. The 16 year old has dominated that age group with eight national titles in the last year.

"Tennys" was actually the Tennessee teen's great grandfather's name and it seemed like a perfect fit for a kid who had a dad that taught the sport and a mom who loved it. Even without the name, big brother Davey excelled in the juniors before heading to the University of Tennessee last year. Now it's time for Tennys to cause the racquet and he's doing it in a big way.

In 2006, Tennys did pick up the 16s top prize at the Kentucky International Derby, but it was 2007 that was really his year. He began by reaching the finals in February at the Columbus Indoors and then won a championship every month for the next six -- with two in April! First it was USTA/ITF in College Station, then the USTA International Spring Championahips and the Easter Bowl in April 2007. He finished May and June with trophies from USTA National Opens before picking up Gold Balls at the USTA National Claycourts and the Hardcourts at Kalamazoo. It was the last one that gave him his wildcard into his very first Grand Slam event.

Though he lost in the first round, Tennys made a splash at the U.S. Open, pushing French Open finalist Greg Jones of Australia to 4-6,6-2,7-6(5). He garnered quite a bit of publicity for his game and his name and I'm sure there's much more to come.

Tennys and I sat down at Kalamazoo while he was still beaming after his victory over James "Bo" Seal in the final.



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#2 ·
Tennys (yes, it is pronounced Tennis) Sandgren is a young, rising 20 year old American star.

His name is too awesome for words, and fits perfectly. Tennys won a Future last week, and is in prime position to win another one this week.

I'd love to see this kid get to the big time, what say you?
 
#7 ·
Can't do it. He comes from that hellhole on Rocky Top. He will be turning pro I believe, he had considered returning to play for the Tennessee Vols. I saw him once in person. Very wristy shots. At least he's better that Rhyne(Whine) Williams, the other Vol.

Also JP Smith who has been killing it in the futures. The former Vols are making moves, unfortunately because they are my least favorite team in college tennis.
 
#10 ·
It's not confirmed that he will go pro yet actually. But he likely will due too some good results lately and the fact that Tennessee will not be very good next year and his return will not be that beneficial to him
 
#12 ·
I will become a fan when he is into the pro tour though. I wasn't the biggest Farah fan in college but once these guys hit the pro I support them all, repping college tennis.
 
#20 ·
Nice article about Tennys and his name origin

Tennys Sandgren wins tennis match at USTA Pro Circuit

February 23, 2012 8:36 PM
ShareThis| Print Story | E-Mail StoryBy TODD ORODENKER/ The Brownsville Herald
His name is Tennys, and he plays tennis.

Thursday at the Brownsville USTA Pro Circuit Tennis Tournament at Brownsville Tennis Center, Tennys Sandgren won a tennis match, as he upset sixth-seeded Dimitar Kutrovsky 7-6(4), 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals.

He’ll try for another upset today, as he draws fourth-seed Daniel Cox for the right to go to the semifinals.

There, Tennys, and yes that’s his real name, will have a chance to play more … sigh, tennis. And don’t think he hasn’t heard it all before.

"Certainly I get a lot of interesting comments," Sandgren said. "None negative, just interesting."

Sandgren got the unusual, but fitting, first name from his Swedish great grandfather. It had no relation to the sport, and when his parents decided to bring back the name and give it to their son, they weren’t really thinking about the sport either.

But they did play it, and they did have a court in their backyard. So, it became a family thing to do, and sure enough, Sandgren wound up being pretty good.

The Tennessee native stayed in his home state and played college tennis at Tennessee, but last summer, he won two different Pro Circuit tournaments in Illinois. With those wins and with what he did in college, the 20-year-old decided it was the right time to turn pro and go at this full-time.

"I had good results over the summer," Sandgren said. "It was just a matter of when I was ready."

Based on how he handled Kutrovsky, it looks like Sandgren made the right call.

"He’s ranked higher than I am, so it’s always nice to beat someone who had some of the wins he’s had," Sandgren said.

In the match, Sandgren and Kutrovsky kept taking shots at each in the first set before Sandgren powered through in the tiebreaker.

The second set featured clean tennis until Sandgren broke Kutrovsky twice to take a 5-2 lead. He let up in the ensuing game and was re-broken, then lost on the fourth deuce to make it 5-4.

But after changing his shirt and taking a quick breather, he won four points in a row and ran away with the match.

"Just about trying to win each point," Sandgren said. "There was not a lot of serving plays because the serve was taken out of it with the wind."

Things didn’t stop there for Sandgren on Thursday, as he and his doubles partner Rhyne Williams beat Vahid Mirzadeh and Michael Shabaz 6-1, 7-6(0) to advance to the final.

He’ll have that, and of course, another singles match or two.

"That’s how it is, it’s a grind, for sure," Sandgren said. "It should be a really tough one (today)."
 
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