Alabama Men's Tennis Introducing the Crimson: Freshman Sam Fischer
9/25/2017 4:15:00 PM | Men's Tennis
With the school year underway, Alabama Men's Tennis Q&A's will be conducted throughout the fall to introduce and catch up with players on the team. The fifth is introducing Sam Fischer, a freshman from Brentwood, Tenn.
What sparked your interest to start playing tennis?
"Well my parents never played, but as a kid we would always go vacation in Chatham?, Massachusetts they have a beach club there and I saw old men playing there and I asked my mom what sport they were playing in a childish voice and the rest was history. I remember that my rackets would get taken away because I would hit them on the garage so I learned how to build my own with cardboard and whatever I had just to keep hitting a ball up against my garage. When I got back home I started taking lessons and one thing led to another.
How did you know how to make your own rackets?
"I have no idea. That's the thing about it, I had no clue, but I wanted to whatever I needed to do to keep hitting tennis balls. I used whatever I could find, but my parents kept taking rackets away because it was extremely annoying and I broke a lot of stuff."
You are from right outside of Nashville, have you seen any differences in being back home versus Tuscaloosa so far?
"I had a little home sickness when I got here in the summer, but overall I see a lot of similarities between here and where I lived in Brentwood. Just the environment and the culture really similar, everyone is so nice it's one community and that's what it's like back home so nothing has really changed. I feel right at home."
How has your time in Tuscaloosa been so far?
"I've loved every second of being here, and I enjoyed being here for the summer. I love the guys, the coaches, the classes and I'm just trying to embrace all aspects of it and so far, so good."
When did you start getting recruited by Alabama and why did you choose to come here?
"I started getting recruited in November of my junior year. I had a really good tournament in November and I remember my coach back home gave me George's (Husack) card and I emailed George and we started talking. I wrote him again after I had another good tournament six months later. I wasn't planning on emailing him because before he told me he only had two spots and it's going to be tight, so I started thinking 'OK, maybe not this school' but I emailed him again and he wanted me to come down for an unofficial visit and I did. Once I got here for my unofficial in April, I absolutely loved it. Before the tennis match even started I knew I wanted to come here and just the tennis match was the icing on the cake. I didn't really know any of the guys, but just the environment, the crowd, and the fans were great. I called my mom and said I'm not going to say a word to anyone for the next six or seven months, as far as they know I have no interest in Alabama, but I knew as soon as I came here this was the school I wanted to go to. After my official visit in October I committed."Â
What excites you the most about this upcoming season?
"I'm just looking forward to keep getting better, I just feel like there are so many things in my game that are not where I think they can be. The coaches are working with me every day to get to that top level. I'm also on the pre-med track to becoming a doctor, which is also awesome to be helping people. But I can't wait to play other SEC schools and play other teams and just have that pay off that I've been working for the last 10 to 12 years in junior tennis. I'm excited for all of it and how much fun it's going to be moving forward."
What are some of your individual and team goals for the upcoming season?
"For the fall season I'm really looking to improve, especially on my forehand which I've been working on throughout the summer. I'm looking to become more aggressive as well. I'm going to maintain a 4.0 GPA and then just trying to be the best teammate that I can, doing the little things and respecting the leaders on the team while being a leader in my own way. By the time the spring season comes and I can do all of those little things right, then I stand a really good chance of representing the lineup and I'm just really excited for all of that to come."
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