October 25, 2025 • 21 mins
Listen to one of the greatest Japanese college tennis players of all time. Will he and other players get a 5th year? Can you imagine having to play college tennis at the highest level whilst learning a new language? Shunsuke had one piece of advice for up and coming players --- "Just SHOW UP every day!" Great player and truly a great person. Watch out for Mr. Mitsui in the future!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring toyou today on episode #16 of the
James McKay UTR Podcast. I bring to you one of the best
college tennis players of all time, and his name is Shansuki
Mitsui Shan. Thanks for your time.
(00:24):
Welcome on. Thank you for having me, James.
So one of the most amazing things about this is for those
that probably do know, is yes, Ihad a pretty strong influence on
the recruitment of Shinsuke to Tennessee.
But one of the most amazing things about this is I look at
(00:48):
Sean now and where he is as a asa human being and growing up
throughout college. Shinsuke could barely speak
English when he arrived on campus in Knoxville back in
2022. Shun tell us a little bit about
how that was for you coming fromJapan and going into an AUS
(01:14):
college system and having to learn a language and also at the
same time play the highest levelof tennis.
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I was,I was not sure if I really want
to do it or not. Like to be honest, first, first
time when I was thinking about like going to college because I,
(01:37):
I know it's really tough to likeadjust to the environment is
really different and like it's very tough to adjust.
Obviously I, I've been travelleda lot when I was juniors and
playing a lot of ITF juniors. But I know like living is very,
very tough and way tougher than just travelling for two weeks or
(02:01):
three weeks and then come back home.
And like basing in different country and like speaking
different language in daily basis is very, very tough.
And, but I really wanted to do something that you don't even
like think about and like, I just wanted to put myself in
(02:23):
uncomfortable space and like just trying to, I wanted to get
better as a player, but at the same time as get better as a
person as well. And I think, and I got recruited
by a lot of different schools and like, I just talked to my
Asian and like, those process helped me to like be
(02:46):
professional more and like got getting better as a person.
And, and I think those process helped me to, to do like manage,
manage yourself right now as professional tennis player.
But like now like first 2-3 months, it's really tough to
adjust to everything, like environments, training, like the
(03:09):
time, everything. And I think waking up a little
bit earlier than when I was in Japan and like I have to go to
bed earlier than I usually do inback home.
And I think those stuff really like struggle.
But I think those stuff really helped me to do a little bit of
(03:29):
more like micromanage to myself and be professional and take and
take it take by playing tennis more like serious off the court
as well and not just playing well or like hit forehand well,
hit back and well. It's just being professional
(03:50):
about everything and put every, every single effort to the to
the tennis. This is what I want people to
hear at the highest level of college tennis.
The, the, the, there's so many good players.
Shunsuki was top five in the world as a junior and actually
(04:12):
started out playing number six, right?
He started out playing number six in his freshman year because
everything was so different. He had to go to school, he had
to go to class, he had to learn,he had to have a translator.
True story. I had to Google.
I had to say into my phone during a match what what I
(04:35):
wanted Sean to do because he didn't understand what I was
saying. And he went from playing number
six to number 5 to #4 all the way up to #1.
And not only did he play number 1, he is one of the greatest to
ever play college tennis in my opinion.
And the reason why is I cannot tell you how many matches he
(05:00):
won. Just to put it into perspective
from a Tennessee perspective, I believe he's in the top five of
all time. And Tennessee have obviously had
some phenomenal players coming through the program.
He's only one of seven people towin 100 singles and 100 double
s, which is incredibly hard to do, especially with the schedule
(05:20):
we had. And he showed up, he showed up
every single dual match. So to to have Sean on here and,
and talk about his experience, like I want other people out
there to hear that you are a great player.
You may be a great junior, but come and play college tennis.
Go give it a shot and and see ifyou truly are ready to become a
(05:43):
professional. Sean, you are currently around
700 in the world. You've gotten to a lot higher
than that throughout your career.
Where do you see yourself? Where do you see yourself at the
end of this year? Where do you see yourself at the
end of next year? Do you think you can get to the
top of professional tennis? I mean, yes, I I've played.
(06:06):
I mean, I got some injured. So like I haven't played much
since I graduated Tennessee in May.
I play probably like less than 1010 tournaments, like 7 or 8
tournaments, but I play like in 15K25K.
Like I just, it's just the little steps, but step and step
by step. But I, I think I've been playing
(06:27):
pretty well whenever I I'm healthy and I'm rested and I
feel like I'm ready to play and I'm ready to compete.
And I play usually like consistently making semis or
finals. And like, I think I've been
play, play solid. And that's that's why you need
to play like play for whole yearand tennis like seasons very
(06:48):
long. And yeah, but yeah, I think if
I'm being consistent and like being being ready to play every
single match like that, that's what I did when I was when I was
in college for four years and like just trying to be ready for
every single match and like justshow, show up on the court and
like just play your game. And like, I think that's, that
(07:11):
helps me a lot to be consistently getting good
results. And, and that obviously helped
me to getting like 100 hundred wins in singles and hundred wins
in double s. I think getting a lot of
matches, matches. And then I just trying to show
up and like, don't try not to like make any excuse and like
just show up and like play your game and just find a way to win.
(07:33):
I think that's that helps me to just winning a lot of matches in
ITF as well, just day by day. Show up.
He said that a few times there. Show up.
It's pretty simple, right? Every single day, every single
match, just show up and good things will happen.
I actually believe that Sean is the fastest tennis player out
(07:57):
there right now. I've never seen anyone as fast
as Shinsuke Mitsui, and I think a lot of people would agree
with. So moving on, I want to talk
about PTTS. You've played five and you have
made nearly $15,000 playing PTTS.
(08:22):
Why do they help you? So for me personally, I feel
like playing a lot of matches helps me.
I feel like not like not just practicing and practicing,
practicing and play one match and you play good with that.
And like you, you win or lose like only only one winner is in
(08:44):
one tournament. So like, yeah.
And usually like you play one ortwo matches and like get out of
the tournament and go to the next tournament and just
practice for whole week. And that doesn't really help me
like I need to play a lot of matches to feel the moment and
(09:06):
like feel the break point, feel the tough moments and then now
like start feeling those like tightness and then start getting
used to it. So I feel like getting five
matches at least I think that helps me a lot to either doesn't
matter you win or lose. Just get a lot of matches and
(09:28):
like you feel the tennis matcheslike you don't really like know
that just play and like hit someballs and like just play 2 sets,
three sets and done for for a week.
That doesn't really help me and just play a lot of matches, 15
sets, like like 16 sets the whole week and like just just
(09:49):
feel the tennis matches, not just hitting balls and like I
think that helps me a lot. What's the every country is
different right? I'm from the UK.
EU KS mindset to college tennis has changed.
It used to be don't go to college, you have to play pro
tennis from a young age. Maybe go to Europe.
(10:10):
If you go to College in the US, you're probably not going to
make it. That has now changed.
The mindset in the UK is you very much should go to the US.
What's the mindset in Japan? Is it the same or different?
Just now I think a lot of like college Japanese college tennis
(10:31):
players in the US, College in US, there's a lot of tennis
players using Kuchi from Cal andnow Kenta Miyashi from Illinois
and Jay Friend from Arizona. Those guys like stop making
making another way to GoPro. But it used to be only either
you're going pro now or like notgoing to pro and just go to
(10:54):
College in Japan. Like that's the only two ways
that you could go after you graduating college, graduating
high school. But now we start having another
way to keep playing tennis as anathlete and then still going
school. And then you still could find a
way to go pro and making money and like play professional.
(11:16):
And I think that's a good thing for me to like having another
way to stop keep playing tennis in college.
Yeah, well, I will say as a company we work with the great
country of Japan. We host multiple PPT events
(11:36):
throughout the year and they aregreat people.
They are incredibly hard working, they are honest and
obviously my experience coachingShinsuke and and knowing him for
a very long time was was memorable.
So why if anyone is listening today that is is deciding on
(11:59):
where to go to school and one ofthe schools that they are
considering is Tennessee, right?Why should they go to Tennessee?
What based on your experience and the success you why should
they go to Tennessee? The biggest thing and like the
most important things to decide where you go in college is a
(12:24):
coach. I think the, the chemistry with
the coach is very, very important to improve your tennis
skill sets and like everything and how like how to win matches
and, and your mindset like mentally.
And I think when I get recruitedby Tennessee, I mean, obviously
you are associate head coach at the time.
(12:45):
And I've, I really did not understand any English at the
moment from any other school's coaches, But I I could still
like feel a passion, like how you really want your players to
be better. And also Tennessee's head coach,
she was Chris Woodruff. He was Woodruff was 26 in the
(13:09):
world when he was a player and he obviously was one of the best
players in the college tennis and he he won masters in
Montreal. And I think those results,
that's the process I want to I actually want to do.
So like the coaches, the coachesknowing what I want to do is
(13:31):
very important. Like he experienced everything I
want to do and he knows what's he like in playing, playing in
front of, I don't know, 1000 thousand people, 100,000 people,
a lot of people in front of you.And like playing, playing David
Scott for everything, he explained.
He experienced everything. I think those experience he
(13:54):
used, he used those experiences and I think those, I thought
that that would help. One of the greatest things that
Woody did with you is we had your expectation.
I and others had our, your, our expectation of you to say be
here, right? Woody's expectation of you was
(14:17):
double the big. The biggest thing that he said
about your game, which I'll never forget, is you have to
utilize your speed to create stress on your opponents.
And I'll never forget that, right?
You actually used to be more of a defensive player.
You would run and scramble at the back and he had you getting
(14:37):
into that net because you are anamazing, an amazing volleyer.
And not only that, Shinsuke is a13.84 UTR.
He's an all American, multiple all American and he was top ten
in the country and will go down as one of the greatest of all
time. John, I have to ask you, is
(14:58):
there, is there a chance that weget to see a fifth year of
Shinsuke Mitsui representing thegreat Tennessee Vols.
Yeah, I mean, I would, I would love to come back and like
compete for the team and yeah, Iwant to play.
(15:20):
I want to play, obviously I wantto play for Woody again.
And then he's been, he's been doing great job and like, he's
been treating me like very nice and like we, we're having very
good relationship together and like sometimes stay in his house
and like just building very goodrelationship.
And I really want to play for him and I want to give something
(15:43):
back for him and like give him championship or something.
Like I want to give him back. And yeah, obviously, like we
don't like after you, you graduating college, you realize
that like there's not really theyou don't, you're not going to
have any moments like you play for team and like you play for
(16:05):
college, you're not going to have those chances anymore like
after your college is done. And I really miss it already and
like playing for playing, playing college tennis and like
that, those intensities, I just,I, I missed it and I obviously
would take the 5th year back andlike playing full Tennessee
(16:26):
again. Well, if you don't know, I
haven't actually kept up with itrecently, but there was a lot of
talk about student athletes getting that fifth year once you
once we were past the COVID years.
So I will I will definitely lookinto that after that.
But to see you play college tennis again, Shun for for
(16:49):
Tennessee would be would be. I'm not sure other coaches out
there would like that too much, but Tennessee fans will love it.
So let's hope for that. Another example, Shunzuki's
currently in Knoxville, I think,and he's an alumni and he's come
(17:10):
back to campus to train, he's come back to practice, he's come
back to use the facility as a base.
Another example why you need to go to college is at any time you
can come back and you can prepare, you can practice, you
can train, you can be coached. So how's that going for you,
(17:31):
Sean? Are you are you enjoying being
back on campus now in a different role where you're not
actually on the team? Yes, especially if you are
international athletes, international college students,
then like you have you having having having a base in US is
really, really helpful. I want to compete tournament and
(17:54):
I want to play I wanted to play ITF challenges like going
forward, I want to play in in the USI feel like that's better
for me, like chemistry, like courts and balls, like I feel
like that's good for me. So like I really want to compete
in the US, but at the same time,like if you, I've never gone to
college, then like you don't have a base, you don't have a
(18:16):
base to train or like you have nowhere to go.
Like whenever you lose first round or second round and just
nowhere to go. And you got to find a way to
like get a practice partner and like get a practice score.
Like you're doing everything. It's really tough.
And so I think having having having a base in the US is
(18:37):
really helpful for me. And whenever I come back, then
like I can train with the, with the coaches, obviously Woody and
also the, we have the current, current players, UT players and
like we can practice together and like, and obviously we can
use a great facility and like that really helped me a lot.
(18:59):
Last question, Sean, again, you were top five in the world.
You started out playing college tennis, lowering the lineup.
You are a phenomenal player and you're going to be a phenomenal
player. What advice, what advice would
you give to juniors out there that are maybe playing junior
(19:19):
events or playing UTR events or they are in college and they're
trying to get to the next level and and accomplish things that
that you have done. What What If there's any kind of
advice you could give them, Whatwould you say?
First of all, go to college. I think now like 18 years old
and like going straight to pro tennis.
(19:40):
It's really tough and I think being mature is very important.
So like I think when you're 18, it's really tough to handle
everything just by yourself and the older stuff by yourself when
you're 18. And first of all, going college
and also if you once you decide to go in college, then like put
(20:02):
all in every single airport. Put on the court, put
everything, every single air forin the court and every single
day just show up on the court every day.
Like don't try to make any excuse and like just don't try
to be lazy or anything and just just show up and like all in for
four years and then see where you're at, like where you're
(20:24):
going to be one of the greatest tennis player in the world.
Absolutely love it. I think the one thing as well,
Sean, that you have that is, I wouldn't say unique, but it's
very important is you love, absolutely love the game, right?
You, your your true passion is the game of tennis.
(20:46):
So find that to the players out there, find that love for the
for tennis and, and, and great things and great things will
happen anyway. Put your stock in Shinsuke
Mitsui. He is, he is going to get up
there. It's just a matter of time.
He's one of the most unique, funplayers to watch.
(21:07):
If you have never seen him play,he's so fast, he's he's so
competitive. He can do so many different
things on the court. Sean, from everyone at UTR, we
wish you the best of luck. We will be following and we
really appreciate your time. So thank you very much.
Thanks James for having me today.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring toyou today on episode #16 of the
James McKay UTR Podcast. I bring to you one of the best
college tennis players of all time, and his name is Shansuki
Mitsui Shan. Thanks for your time.
(00:24):
Welcome on. Thank you for having me, James.
So one of the most amazing things about this is for those
that probably do know, is yes, Ihad a pretty strong influence on
the recruitment of Shinsuke to Tennessee.
But one of the most amazing things about this is I look at
(00:48):
Sean now and where he is as a asa human being and growing up
throughout college. Shinsuke could barely speak
English when he arrived on campus in Knoxville back in
2022. Shun tell us a little bit about
how that was for you coming fromJapan and going into an AUS
(01:14):
college system and having to learn a language and also at the
same time play the highest levelof tennis.
Yeah, I mean, I feel like I was,I was not sure if I really want
to do it or not. Like to be honest, first, first
time when I was thinking about like going to college because I,
(01:37):
I know it's really tough to likeadjust to the environment is
really different and like it's very tough to adjust.
Obviously I, I've been travelleda lot when I was juniors and
playing a lot of ITF juniors. But I know like living is very,
very tough and way tougher than just travelling for two weeks or
(02:01):
three weeks and then come back home.
And like basing in different country and like speaking
different language in daily basis is very, very tough.
And, but I really wanted to do something that you don't even
like think about and like, I just wanted to put myself in
(02:23):
uncomfortable space and like just trying to, I wanted to get
better as a player, but at the same time as get better as a
person as well. And I think, and I got recruited
by a lot of different schools and like, I just talked to my
Asian and like, those process helped me to like be
(02:46):
professional more and like got getting better as a person.
And, and I think those process helped me to, to do like manage,
manage yourself right now as professional tennis player.
But like now like first 2-3 months, it's really tough to
adjust to everything, like environments, training, like the
(03:09):
time, everything. And I think waking up a little
bit earlier than when I was in Japan and like I have to go to
bed earlier than I usually do inback home.
And I think those stuff really like struggle.
But I think those stuff really helped me to do a little bit of
(03:29):
more like micromanage to myself and be professional and take and
take it take by playing tennis more like serious off the court
as well and not just playing well or like hit forehand well,
hit back and well. It's just being professional
(03:50):
about everything and put every, every single effort to the to
the tennis. This is what I want people to
hear at the highest level of college tennis.
The, the, the, there's so many good players.
Shunsuki was top five in the world as a junior and actually
(04:12):
started out playing number six, right?
He started out playing number six in his freshman year because
everything was so different. He had to go to school, he had
to go to class, he had to learn,he had to have a translator.
True story. I had to Google.
I had to say into my phone during a match what what I
(04:35):
wanted Sean to do because he didn't understand what I was
saying. And he went from playing number
six to number 5 to #4 all the way up to #1.
And not only did he play number 1, he is one of the greatest to
ever play college tennis in my opinion.
And the reason why is I cannot tell you how many matches he
(05:00):
won. Just to put it into perspective
from a Tennessee perspective, I believe he's in the top five of
all time. And Tennessee have obviously had
some phenomenal players coming through the program.
He's only one of seven people towin 100 singles and 100 double
s, which is incredibly hard to do, especially with the schedule
(05:20):
we had. And he showed up, he showed up
every single dual match. So to to have Sean on here and,
and talk about his experience, like I want other people out
there to hear that you are a great player.
You may be a great junior, but come and play college tennis.
Go give it a shot and and see ifyou truly are ready to become a
(05:43):
professional. Sean, you are currently around
700 in the world. You've gotten to a lot higher
than that throughout your career.
Where do you see yourself? Where do you see yourself at the
end of this year? Where do you see yourself at the
end of next year? Do you think you can get to the
top of professional tennis? I mean, yes, I I've played.
(06:06):
I mean, I got some injured. So like I haven't played much
since I graduated Tennessee in May.
I play probably like less than 1010 tournaments, like 7 or 8
tournaments, but I play like in 15K25K.
Like I just, it's just the little steps, but step and step
by step. But I, I think I've been playing
(06:27):
pretty well whenever I I'm healthy and I'm rested and I
feel like I'm ready to play and I'm ready to compete.
And I play usually like consistently making semis or
finals. And like, I think I've been
play, play solid. And that's that's why you need
to play like play for whole yearand tennis like seasons very
(06:48):
long. And yeah, but yeah, I think if
I'm being consistent and like being being ready to play every
single match like that, that's what I did when I was when I was
in college for four years and like just trying to be ready for
every single match and like justshow, show up on the court and
like just play your game. And like, I think that's, that
(07:11):
helps me a lot to be consistently getting good
results. And, and that obviously helped
me to getting like 100 hundred wins in singles and hundred wins
in double s. I think getting a lot of
matches, matches. And then I just trying to show
up and like, don't try not to like make any excuse and like
just show up and like play your game and just find a way to win.
(07:33):
I think that's that helps me to just winning a lot of matches in
ITF as well, just day by day. Show up.
He said that a few times there. Show up.
It's pretty simple, right? Every single day, every single
match, just show up and good things will happen.
I actually believe that Sean is the fastest tennis player out
(07:57):
there right now. I've never seen anyone as fast
as Shinsuke Mitsui, and I think a lot of people would agree
with. So moving on, I want to talk
about PTTS. You've played five and you have
made nearly $15,000 playing PTTS.
(08:22):
Why do they help you? So for me personally, I feel
like playing a lot of matches helps me.
I feel like not like not just practicing and practicing,
practicing and play one match and you play good with that.
And like you, you win or lose like only only one winner is in
(08:44):
one tournament. So like, yeah.
And usually like you play one ortwo matches and like get out of
the tournament and go to the next tournament and just
practice for whole week. And that doesn't really help me
like I need to play a lot of matches to feel the moment and
(09:06):
like feel the break point, feel the tough moments and then now
like start feeling those like tightness and then start getting
used to it. So I feel like getting five
matches at least I think that helps me a lot to either doesn't
matter you win or lose. Just get a lot of matches and
(09:28):
like you feel the tennis matcheslike you don't really like know
that just play and like hit someballs and like just play 2 sets,
three sets and done for for a week.
That doesn't really help me and just play a lot of matches, 15
sets, like like 16 sets the whole week and like just just
(09:49):
feel the tennis matches, not just hitting balls and like I
think that helps me a lot. What's the every country is
different right? I'm from the UK.
EU KS mindset to college tennis has changed.
It used to be don't go to college, you have to play pro
tennis from a young age. Maybe go to Europe.
(10:10):
If you go to College in the US, you're probably not going to
make it. That has now changed.
The mindset in the UK is you very much should go to the US.
What's the mindset in Japan? Is it the same or different?
Just now I think a lot of like college Japanese college tennis
(10:31):
players in the US, College in US, there's a lot of tennis
players using Kuchi from Cal andnow Kenta Miyashi from Illinois
and Jay Friend from Arizona. Those guys like stop making
making another way to GoPro. But it used to be only either
you're going pro now or like notgoing to pro and just go to
(10:54):
College in Japan. Like that's the only two ways
that you could go after you graduating college, graduating
high school. But now we start having another
way to keep playing tennis as anathlete and then still going
school. And then you still could find a
way to go pro and making money and like play professional.
(11:16):
And I think that's a good thing for me to like having another
way to stop keep playing tennis in college.
Yeah, well, I will say as a company we work with the great
country of Japan. We host multiple PPT events
(11:36):
throughout the year and they aregreat people.
They are incredibly hard working, they are honest and
obviously my experience coachingShinsuke and and knowing him for
a very long time was was memorable.
So why if anyone is listening today that is is deciding on
(11:59):
where to go to school and one ofthe schools that they are
considering is Tennessee, right?Why should they go to Tennessee?
What based on your experience and the success you why should
they go to Tennessee? The biggest thing and like the
most important things to decide where you go in college is a
(12:24):
coach. I think the, the chemistry with
the coach is very, very important to improve your tennis
skill sets and like everything and how like how to win matches
and, and your mindset like mentally.
And I think when I get recruitedby Tennessee, I mean, obviously
you are associate head coach at the time.
(12:45):
And I've, I really did not understand any English at the
moment from any other school's coaches, But I I could still
like feel a passion, like how you really want your players to
be better. And also Tennessee's head coach,
she was Chris Woodruff. He was Woodruff was 26 in the
(13:09):
world when he was a player and he obviously was one of the best
players in the college tennis and he he won masters in
Montreal. And I think those results,
that's the process I want to I actually want to do.
So like the coaches, the coachesknowing what I want to do is
(13:31):
very important. Like he experienced everything I
want to do and he knows what's he like in playing, playing in
front of, I don't know, 1000 thousand people, 100,000 people,
a lot of people in front of you.And like playing, playing David
Scott for everything, he explained.
He experienced everything. I think those experience he
(13:54):
used, he used those experiences and I think those, I thought
that that would help. One of the greatest things that
Woody did with you is we had your expectation.
I and others had our, your, our expectation of you to say be
here, right? Woody's expectation of you was
(14:17):
double the big. The biggest thing that he said
about your game, which I'll never forget, is you have to
utilize your speed to create stress on your opponents.
And I'll never forget that, right?
You actually used to be more of a defensive player.
You would run and scramble at the back and he had you getting
(14:37):
into that net because you are anamazing, an amazing volleyer.
And not only that, Shinsuke is a13.84 UTR.
He's an all American, multiple all American and he was top ten
in the country and will go down as one of the greatest of all
time. John, I have to ask you, is
(14:58):
there, is there a chance that weget to see a fifth year of
Shinsuke Mitsui representing thegreat Tennessee Vols.
Yeah, I mean, I would, I would love to come back and like
compete for the team and yeah, Iwant to play.
(15:20):
I want to play, obviously I wantto play for Woody again.
And then he's been, he's been doing great job and like, he's
been treating me like very nice and like we, we're having very
good relationship together and like sometimes stay in his house
and like just building very goodrelationship.
And I really want to play for him and I want to give something
(15:43):
back for him and like give him championship or something.
Like I want to give him back. And yeah, obviously, like we
don't like after you, you graduating college, you realize
that like there's not really theyou don't, you're not going to
have any moments like you play for team and like you play for
(16:05):
college, you're not going to have those chances anymore like
after your college is done. And I really miss it already and
like playing for playing, playing college tennis and like
that, those intensities, I just,I, I missed it and I obviously
would take the 5th year back andlike playing full Tennessee
(16:26):
again. Well, if you don't know, I
haven't actually kept up with itrecently, but there was a lot of
talk about student athletes getting that fifth year once you
once we were past the COVID years.
So I will I will definitely lookinto that after that.
But to see you play college tennis again, Shun for for
(16:49):
Tennessee would be would be. I'm not sure other coaches out
there would like that too much, but Tennessee fans will love it.
So let's hope for that. Another example, Shunzuki's
currently in Knoxville, I think,and he's an alumni and he's come
(17:10):
back to campus to train, he's come back to practice, he's come
back to use the facility as a base.
Another example why you need to go to college is at any time you
can come back and you can prepare, you can practice, you
can train, you can be coached. So how's that going for you,
(17:31):
Sean? Are you are you enjoying being
back on campus now in a different role where you're not
actually on the team? Yes, especially if you are
international athletes, international college students,
then like you have you having having having a base in US is
really, really helpful. I want to compete tournament and
(17:54):
I want to play I wanted to play ITF challenges like going
forward, I want to play in in the USI feel like that's better
for me, like chemistry, like courts and balls, like I feel
like that's good for me. So like I really want to compete
in the US, but at the same time,like if you, I've never gone to
college, then like you don't have a base, you don't have a
(18:16):
base to train or like you have nowhere to go.
Like whenever you lose first round or second round and just
nowhere to go. And you got to find a way to
like get a practice partner and like get a practice score.
Like you're doing everything. It's really tough.
And so I think having having having a base in the US is
(18:37):
really helpful for me. And whenever I come back, then
like I can train with the, with the coaches, obviously Woody and
also the, we have the current, current players, UT players and
like we can practice together and like, and obviously we can
use a great facility and like that really helped me a lot.
(18:59):
Last question, Sean, again, you were top five in the world.
You started out playing college tennis, lowering the lineup.
You are a phenomenal player and you're going to be a phenomenal
player. What advice, what advice would
you give to juniors out there that are maybe playing junior
(19:19):
events or playing UTR events or they are in college and they're
trying to get to the next level and and accomplish things that
that you have done. What What If there's any kind of
advice you could give them, Whatwould you say?
First of all, go to college. I think now like 18 years old
and like going straight to pro tennis.
(19:40):
It's really tough and I think being mature is very important.
So like I think when you're 18, it's really tough to handle
everything just by yourself and the older stuff by yourself when
you're 18. And first of all, going college
and also if you once you decide to go in college, then like put
(20:02):
all in every single airport. Put on the court, put
everything, every single air forin the court and every single
day just show up on the court every day.
Like don't try to make any excuse and like just don't try
to be lazy or anything and just just show up and like all in for
four years and then see where you're at, like where you're
(20:24):
going to be one of the greatest tennis player in the world.
Absolutely love it. I think the one thing as well,
Sean, that you have that is, I wouldn't say unique, but it's
very important is you love, absolutely love the game, right?
You, your your true passion is the game of tennis.
(20:46):
So find that to the players out there, find that love for the
for tennis and, and, and great things and great things will
happen anyway. Put your stock in Shinsuke
Mitsui. He is, he is going to get up
there. It's just a matter of time.
He's one of the most unique, funplayers to watch.
(21:07):
If you have never seen him play,he's so fast, he's he's so
competitive. He can do so many different
things on the court. Sean, from everyone at UTR, we
wish you the best of luck. We will be following and we
really appreciate your time. So thank you very much.
Thanks James for having me today.
Thank you.
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