At the age of 6 a typical child is sent off to his first day of elementary school with backpack in hand. At the age of 6 Mousheg Hovhannisyan was sent off to tennis practice with racket in hand.
Childhood was anything but typical for this Pepperdine men’s tennis player. But no matter how unusual his youth may have been one thing remains the same: he was meant to play tennis. Hovhannisyan is just one of six international players on the Pepperdine men’s tennis team. A native of Armenia his whole life changed when his family decided to move to the United States when he was 8 years old. The change and adjustment proved difficult. And yet tennis began to slowly serve as the only constant in his life. With the influence of his father Hovhannisyan’s intensity for the game grew quickly. “He used to be a pingpong player in the Soviet Union Hovhannisyan said. Then he became a director of a tennis academy and he encouraged me to start playing.” A nearby park close to their home in Los Angeles became the site for Hovhannisyan’s practicing. The park became a frequent stop for him and was eventually where he came to meet a man who would take his game to the next level. Kelley Slane became Hovhannisyan’s permanent coach and led him to a No. 5 ranking in the Junior Boys 16s Division of the United States Tennis Association. Slane virtually yanked him out of the field of amateur tennis and propelled him into the world of top-notch professional tennis. But Hovhannisyan began questioning the future of his education. “University wasn’t something I was really thinking about said Hovhannisyan. I just wanted to go pro and be a top tennis player. I decided I wanted to go to school in December of 2008 and ended up playing for Pepperdine.” Coach Adam Steinberg recruited Hovhannisyan following his outstanding play at the USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo Mich. He reached the semifinals in both the boys’ 18 singles and doubles events and in turn earned himself a spot on the Pepperdine team. Following the footsteps of his coach who had once played for the Pepperdine tennis team in 1984 Hovhannisyan has gone above and beyond for his fellow teammates and has proven to be a great asset for his team. “His on-court game is very aggressive and intense said fellow teammate and close friend Finbar Tearney. He’s very talented and he has a lot of great potential.” Tearney described the close bond between the team as well. “We are all friends. I’d jump in front of a bus for them. I’d take a bullet for these guys.” The fighting spirit of the players is evident on the tennis court and clearly carries on to their lives off-court as well. The passion for the game that all 10 players on the team share bind them together in a brotherly bond that is just as powerful as their fight on court. And so the fight continues. The men’s tennis team got off to a rocky start with six wins and nine losses but Hovhannisyan is still confident that the team will finish their season off strong. Their recent domination in the West Coast Conference means they are on the right track. This very confidence is what makes him such a valuable player and is the reason he has managed to reach such great heights in his tennis career. But there have been moments of doubt in Hovhannisyan’s life as well. Hovhannisyan has had his fair share of upsets. These upsets have occasionally impacted him in such a way as to make him consider quitting the game of tennis all together after a big loss or upset. The closest he ever got to actually putting away his racket and tennis balls for good occurred at the age of 14. “I wanted to quit and my dad said that if I wanted to quit I needed to do it right then and there he recalled. But then I remembered how much time and energy I had put into perfecting my game and the passion I had for tennis. I realized that no amount of losses could ever stop me from playing.” Since then Hovhannisyan has learned that his losses only make his wins that much sweeter. With aspirations of turning professional after graduating from Pepperdine Hovhannisyan is finally realizing how close he really is to making his dreams a reality. And then will he truly realize how far he truly has come. “My first day stepping out on the court as a pro . . . now that’s when I can step back and realize how sweet it really is. That’s when my dream will finally become a reality.”