DAVID NAKAGAMI
Assistant Sports Editor
Sophomore Bassam Beidas, ranked No. 21 in singles, has won 12 matches in a row. Currently, Pepperdine’s No.-13 men’s tennis team has strung together nine straight wins. In between preparation for the upcoming match Sunday, “10 Minutes With…” caught up with Beidas, who talks about everything from his beginnings in tennis to team pranks and goals in sports and life.
Being born in London, how did you end up in Egypt?
“I lived in London for the first couple months of my life. But after that, my father’s work was in Egypt, so I’ve pretty much lived there my whole life.”
Did you know teammates Omar [Altmann] and Moody [Mahmoud Kamel] before coming to Pepperdine?
“Yeah, Moody and I used to practice at the same club in Egypt. And Omar, we knew him pretty well from tournaments in Egypt and stuff.”
So did you guys end up playing against each other?
“I played Omar twice and Moody a couple times before I came here.”
How did that turn out?
“Omar always used to beat me. I’ve never actually beat him in a real match. And me and Moody have split.”
How did you get started in tennis?
“I was just looking for exercise when I was around like 10 or 11. And a new tennis academy opened up pretty close to my house in Egypt. So my father and I decided to take a look at it. It started off just really casual and stuff, and then got more serious. I really enjoyed it and I just got better and better. I just spent more time playing. That’s pretty much how I got started.”
How many languages do you speak?
“I speak English and Arabic, and a tiny bit of French. Well, I used to speak decent French but I’ve forgotten it now.”
How would you describe your relationship with Coach Adam Steinberg?
“I think we get along really well. I feel like he would do anything for us, for anyone on the team. His whole focus is on the team. He’s almost like an older brother or a father figure to us. You want to just give your heart out to the team because he does so much for you. You want to play as hard as you can for him.”
Are there any funny stories?
“Everyone’s always playing jokes on each other. Stuart Keplar’s a massive joker. Just yesterday, on April Fool’s Day, we all made a pact to e-mail Steiny and tell him that we weren’t available for today’s match. Each one of us e-mailed him with a different problem like an injury or exam or something, but he figured it out in 10 minutes. Although yesterday, we told Coach Adam to tell Stuart that Dr. Watson, the athletic director, wanted him because Stuart was in massive trouble and he has to go to him immediately. Stuart believed him and walked down. As soon as he got down to the athletic department, the lady at the front told him to go back, saying ‘April Fool’s Day!’ That was pretty good.
Tuesday, James [Lemke] and Stuart changed Stuart’s number on our assistant coach’s phone. Instead of saving it as Stuart, they saved it under the name ‘Adam Steinberg.’ So every message Stuart sent to our assistant [Nick Carless] was sent as if it was from Adam and we had Nick going for a while.”
Who is your tennis idol?
“When I was growing up I used to like Marat Safin. I don’t really model my game after him, but I always respected Tim Henman because I thought he was a really good sportsman, really professional, great attitude, and he never got into any controversy or anything.”
What is one goal in tennis you would like to achieve?
“For now, I would like to win the NCAAs with Pepperdine. That’s a really big goal for me and for all my teammates as well. I think we have a good chance at it this year. In the long run, I would like to become a professional. Make a living off of it and just travel the world playing tennis.”
Who would you like to play against in tennis? A rematch with Omar?
“That would be a good one, I didn’t think of that. It would be interesting to play Andre because I’ve never played him in a real match. We always play each other in practice. It would be a pretty fun match. James and I played against Omar and Andre in the finals of a big doubles tournament a month ago. That was pretty fun. It was a fun match to play.”
What is it like being surrounded by such ethnically diverse teammates?
“When I was younger, I used to travel for tennis quite a bit to play international tournaments and so on, so I’m kind of used to it. But it’s pretty funny actually the mix that we’ve got. We’ve got someone from pretty much every area of the world. We all get along pretty well, though, considering the differences in cultures and all.”
Where would you like to see Pepperdine’s program go?
“I feel like we’ve got a pretty young team. We’ve got a lot of sophomores and only one senior. I’m hoping that we can just get to a point where we’re consistently in the top 5 in the country rather than a team who can always get to the top 5, but never really vantage around it or have chance of winning. I think we have the capability to be a powerhouse, you know. Just consistently performing well and just being at the top and being at the forefront of everyone’s minds. ‘Pepperdine, they’re a tough team. They could win everything.’ That should be a goal for us.”
What is your advice to other tennis players?
“Just to never really give up. As an athlete in general, you go through a lot of tough times. Sports can get very up and down. You get successes, you get bad losses. Through the whole experience, you have to stay tough and just keep going at it because the people that don’t give up are the ones who succeed in life.”
04-03-2008