A few miles from San Diego proper in beautiful La Jolla, the UCSD campus bookstore is hopping with activity. On the wall above a rack of university polo shirts is an action photo of Eric Tseng, the junior Triton from Irvine, CA, striking the ball with precision just as he learned as a youngster at Woodbridge Tennis Club.

At Woodbridge, the talent pool was deep. “There was a good concentrated group of kids and coaches developing together,” Tseng recalls. “We played together all the way to high school, and at a high level. Most (players) went on to college tennis.”

Along the way, Tseng encountered strong coaching influences like Chuck Brymer and Eliot Teltscher, the latter a former top 10 junior and professional player who “took my game to another level and transformed the way I thought about tennis.”

Had Tseng continued growing his 6-foot frame, he might have excelled on a different court. A former basketball player and still an enthusiast of the game, Tseng realized that he’d rank fairly short on any hoops roster. His mom encouraged him to pick up a tennis racquet, and it’s something he’ll carry with him for the rest of his life. Tseng will resume a more recreational approach to tennis after his tenure as UCSD’s #1 Singles, but admits that “(playing) competitively, I’ll miss that.”

Ranked 25th among singles players in SoCal, Tseng and the Tritons host Concordia on Saturday, March 11.

Image: UCSD Athletics