The University of Idaho Vandals Men’s Tennis team is surrounded by new faces this season with the squad consisting mainly of freshman, one sophomore and three seniors who are finishing out their collegiate careers. One of the driving forces for the team this season is freshman Francisco Bascon-Perez.
Bascon-Perez grew up in Cordoba, Spain, and first picked up a tennis racket at the age of five. His father bought him a racket and they started playing together. As Bascon Perez started to improve, he started getting lessons from a coach.
He was part of a tennis academy in high school and in his last two years, he decided with his father that he needed to make a life change.
Bascon-Perez said that if he wanted to continue playing tennis, he had to look for something in the United States since Spain doesn’t integrate sports and education well.
Bascon-Perez and his family worked with an agency that helped recruit athletes to colleges in the United States. He saw that he received an offer from UI and spoke with Men’s Tennis Head Coach Daniel Hangstefer.
I’ve had connections with Spanish guys, recruited prodigy Spanish players throughout my coaching history,” Hangstefer said. “So, I had that connection before, and they told me to touch base with this recruiting agent that I knew. They helped me find Alejandro (Sedeno) and Francisco. I knew (Bascon-Perez) was a hard worker and a very talented player.”
In his short time at UI, Bascon-Perez has picked up four wins in singles matches, along with a 6-1 record in doubles play with senior doubles partner Esteban Santibanez in the spring season.
Bascon-Perez and Santibanez were paired up because both of them shared Spanish heritage. They built their chemistry right away.
“It was very easy for us because we both speak Spanish and our game is very similar in singles,” Santibanez said. “In doubles, we had the same game and the same language, so it was pretty easy to connect with him and the coach saw it too because at the end of the first week we were already playing together.”
In the fall season, Bascon-Perez and Santibanez had a run in the regional tournament. They made it to the finals but fell short. In singles, Bascon- Perez advanced to round 32 but lost. Santibanez said he and Bascon-Perez have a goal to be ranked nationally in doubles.
In the spring season, Bascon-Perez has played in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots, along with the No. 1 doubles spot with Santibanez. Hangstefer said he wanted to push Bacon-Perez and put him in an uncomfortable situation to help him grow as a player.
Being a freshman, Bascon-Perez has had a good start to his Vandal career with a combined 10 wins and plenty more room to grow.
“Now coming (to Idaho, Hangstefer’s) helping me a lot,” Bascon-Perez said. “He’s asking me if I want to practice something specific. I’m very close with the coach, and I’m very happy. I want to win as many matches as I can to help the team and to just have the experience to play in college.”
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.