Baylor's Roy Smith is Living the Best of Both World's

JJ Wolf. William Blumberg. Roy Smith. Three current student-athletes excelling on the pro tour and the college level. At the Cleveland Challenger, there were three college athletes competing at the professional level while still competing in college. JJ Wolf of Ohio State, Maxime Cressy of UCLA (Champion of the tournament), and Baylor's Roy Smith. Now, I met Roy and his team back in Houston where he played his first ATP Challenger event final where he unfortunately lost to Bradley Klahn in the finals. But ever since then, I knew there was something special about this kid.

The first time I met Roy was in Houston during the Oracle Challenger tour event at Rice University. I wasn't familiar with some of the college kids that were playing in the tournament but after Roy dominated his early matches and having an impressive win over Darian King, he stood out from the rest. From humble beginnings on the East Coast in Connecticut, Roy knew that he wanted to take more seriously once he began high school. First with USTA tournaments, then moving on to ITF's, it soon became apparent that college was the next biggest step in his tennis career. After reviewing his options when it came to signing day, he knew Baylor was the place to be to grow and excel both on the court and off.

His goal for 2019 is to finish inside of the Top 100 in both NCAA singles ranking and Top 100 in the world on the professional. This kid IS ambitious. Not many people have the ability nor the talent to dream this big. Currently, he is ranked Top 350 in the world on the tour and is looking to make it into the Top 100 in college very soon. I think it is possible with today's college rules about young athletes trying to get a taste of the professional tour. You have to give Roy a lot of respect for trying to fulfill his dream. He really aspires to be one of the greats in both professional and collegiate level tennis. I am excited to see what he can do this upcoming year.