Singaporean tennis player Jerall Yasin starts afresh with US college path

SINGAPORE - At the end of 2020, Jerall Yasin was flourishing. Not only did he reach a year-end International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior boys’ ranking of No. 416, but he was also Singapore’s top Under-18 player.

Then duty called in early 2021, when he enlisted for national service. Balancing intensive weekday military training with weekend tennis sessions, he struggled for competitive match practice as local tournaments were shelved during the pandemic.

Yasin, 20, told The Straits Times: “It was quite hard to practise, because when you come out of camp you’re just really tired.

“The next day, it wouldn’t be a good day of practice because your body is not well rested enough.”

But even hours of practice could not substitute the intensity of a competitive match. Although Yasin was initially approached by coaches from United States National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division 1 colleges, his two-year hiatus discouraged them from making formal offers.

“I was talking to like some really good (US) schools that are like top 40 or 50 in the country. But because I said I had NS then they were a bit sceptical, because I wasn’t playing for two years,” he said.

After Yasin completed his national service in November, he managed to secure a sports scholarship at the University of North Dakota (UND).

It is an NCAA Division 1 college ranked among the top 80 of the 300-odd Division 1 institutions.

He said: “I guess what was motivating me the most during NS was going to college. I would always try to train as much as possible on the weekends.”

After all, Yasin had some success on the ITF junior tour. He rose from the world’s 1,645th-ranked junior in December 2017 to No. 669 in July 2019, before reaching a career-high 402 in November 2020.

The ITF junior tour provides players 18 and under opportunities to compete across six levels – from JA (including junior Grand Slams) through to J1, J2, J3, J4 and J5, the lowest grade.

Yasin, who won his first J5 Singapore title in September 2020, said: “I feel like college is such a good path because the competition is really good and they provide everything. From dedicated trainers for nutrition to fitness, there is a proper structure.

“You get to play some of the best players in this age group. If you look at pros like Ben Shelton (who played college tennis), I think college is a good gauge to see how far you can make it. It is a good stepping stone to the professional tour.”

Slogging it out on the ITF junior tour also meant he had to forgo family time.

Yasin, who spent about $15,000 per year from 2019 to 2020, said: “Travelling a lot by myself, I am often leaving everyone at home and missing out on a lot of fun stuff with my friends.

“But it was a sacrifice I would have to make if I wanted to keep playing. Because, you can’t have it both ways.”

Besides Yasin, other Singapore players like 21-year-old Ethan Lye, who reached a career-high junior ranking of 255 in January 2019, have competed on the ITF junior tour. Shaheed Alam, 24, went on to the ATP Tour, where he was No. 1,743 in March 2018.

Yasin aims to make it to the ATP Tour. Although UND lost in the semi-finals to Drake University in April’s NCAA Summit League conference, he was in the record-breaking team who ended their regular season with 15 wins.

During the off-season, he will continue playing senior ITF tournaments to gain points on the professional circuit.

“The hardest part is going to be starting out. But hopefully, by the end of college, a reasonable target would be to be ranked between 700 and 800 (in the ATP rankings),” he added.

Yasin’s belief mirrors that of his idol, Kei Nishikori, who recently won a Challenger Tour title despite being injured for almost two years.

And it is exactly that perseverance that allows athletes to accomplish the unthinkable.