UT Permian Basin junior Raul Stevens more than likely had goals of improving on a very solid 2017 singles season for UTPB Tennis.
His 2018 is shaping up to be even better.
Stevens ended the fall schedule the winner of the ITA South Central Regional Championships, winning six matches against players from the Lone Star Conference, Heartland Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to advance to the ITA Oracle Cup in Rome, Georgia. It was a weekend Stevens, from Pretoria, South Africa, couldn't have imagined while growing up.
"I started playing at 7 years old, but started playing competitively at 13," Stevens said. "The most popular sports in South Africa are rugby, soccer and cricket. Tennis sort of falls a little bit wayward off to the side. My primary school had three tennis courts, and there was a freelance coach that used to come to the courts and offer free lessons to whoever was interested. I was playing soccer one afternoon and saw him giving a lesson. He made it seem really interesting and I think that's why I was drawn to it. I asked him for a lesson and he spent 30 minutes with me hitting the ball around and I couldn't put the racket down."
He credits the support of his family for much of his success as tennis has helped take him halfway across the globe.
"I grew up with a great family and support structure; my parents were always very helpful with whatever I wanted to do with my life. There was no thinking of using tennis to go somewhere else or open doors, just as a way to pass the time or have some fun. Obvious things like missing family and not being able to see them are tough. It's a little bit of a culture shock, especially coming to west Texas, even compared to other parts of Texas. Getting used to that was difficult. One thing that was different, in South Africa, we don't have free refills. Coming here that was pretty cool to me, that you can ask for another one and they bring it to you free of charge."
Stevens won his first four matches in Midland without dropping a set and lost just one set all weekend in a tiebreak over all six matches. He rallied to win in the semi-finals 6-7, 6-4, 10-8, and defeated Thomas Pudney of Colorado State – Pueblo 6-4, 6-4 in the championship match. Having to battle weather delays all weekend was an issue Stevens thinks ended up being an advantage.
"The fact that we hosted helped, there was a lot of home crowd support. I had a lot of my friends showed up to matches and cheered me on the whole time. The fact that it rained helped a bit. We condensed the format so I had to play four matches in one day. Not being a favorite to win it, it doesn't give you any time to realize what you're doing. It didn't give me enough time to realize what was happening, just to play my game."
The win brought the trip to Georgia, where the eight regional winners all met in bracket competition this past weekend. After dropping his opening match 4-6, 4-6, he rebounded for a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 win in the second round. He ended the weekend #6 in an opportunity that he'll never forget.
"The standard of tennis there was incredible. There was no such thing as an easy match. It was great to play against different players, we don't play out of Texas much, and here you're playing against players as far away as New York and Washington. It was an eye opener and made me realize there is a whole next level to work towards playing at."
