JANE LEE
Sports Editor
Sitting in the stands of Pepperdine’s tennis courts, home of the national champion Waves, Andre Begemann thinks back to a little less than two years ago. The junior was enjoying life in Bielefeld, Germany, when he realized his athletic career could use a little boost. The tennis player was in need of some real competition that he could not find in his soccer-crazed homeland. Thus began his journey to the U.S., where he also hoped to earn a college degree. With this in mind, Begemann began his career at the College of Santa Fe in 2005 before transferring to Pepperdine in January.
Already having clinched a national championship for the Waves, Begemann recently returned from Columbus, Ohio, where he competed in singles and doubles play at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championships after receiving an automatic bid by winning the singles championship of the ITA Western (South) Regionals on Oct. 23 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
Fall competition may be over, but Begemann is already busy preparing to defend the school’s national title. The junior, who loves “the California lifestyle, the beach and the weather,” took a break from the courts to join us in this week’s edition of “10 Minutes With…”
How did your tennis career begin?
“My father was a soccer player, and he always wanted me to play soccer. So I played soccer for awhile, and then all of a sudden I started playing tennis when I was 7 or 8 years old, and I really liked it. I got better, and then one day it came time for me to choose a sport and it was tennis.”
So how did you end up at Pepperdine?
“In January of 2005, I came to America for college and tennis. I wanted to get my degree, and so I started at the College of Santa Fe in New Mexico. I made it to the same tournament I was just at [ITA National Indoor Championships] in Ohio. There, I made it to the Division I tournament, and then I met the Pepperdine [Head Coach Adam Steinberg], and he told me about the scholarship opportunity, and I already knew how nice Pepperdine was. So of course I chose to come.”
How would you describe the adjustment process?
“When I first came it was a little hard for me. I came in and we had three seniors on the team in the top three spots, and I had always played No. 1 at my old college and for the club team back home so I had to get used to everything — new school, new people, new team, new everything — so they put me at the fourth spot and I thought, ‘Oh, well that sucks’ (laughing). So the first couple of matches I lost, even against schools like UC Irvine and Loyola Marymount, and I didn’t play that well because I didn’t feel so good, but then I kept working hard and I believed in my game and talked to my coach, so it got better and better. At the beginning I wanted to play high on the team but by the end of the semester I realized it doesn’t matter where I play because I just wanted the team to win. And then I clinched the national championship, so that was pretty sweet.”
Speaking of the national championship, what was going through your mind when you clinched the final match?
“It was great. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had as a tennis player. It was just a good end to the season. Winning it with the team we had this semester and with the coach was the greatest part. The whole team chemistry and all the coaches were great, and it was us winning it for Pepperdine for the first time ever. We had the athletic director there, and he rented a room in the hotel, so we were able to celebrate there a little bit. And then when we came back here we got to celebrate, but then I had to go back to Germany. My family was proud of me, obviously. My mom really enjoys watching me play, and I got to show everyone at home the ESPN tape of us winning.”
Now that you’ve won a national title and an individual singles title, what are your goals for next season?
“Another national championship. We have three new guys coming in, like 18 and 19 years old. I’ll be 23 next year so I’ll probably be the team leader. This fall, somebody had to step it up, and I think I did a good job. This semester I had some good results so now I’ll probably get a good ranking for next semester. I just want to lead the team and involve the new guys, and then hopefully we can win again. I saw all the players at the National Indoors and they’re all great individuals, but as a team here at Pepperdine we’re unreal. I also think our coaches are doing a great job at recruiting.”
You mentioned coming here and starting at the No.-4 spot just 11 months ago. What motivated you to go from that role to the role of an ITA regional singles champion so quickly?
“I just wanted to compete with all the really good guys that I didn’t get the chance to go up against before. I wanted to play the No. 1, 2 and 3 guys, so I practiced hard and I worked on my game the first couple weeks here this semester with my coach, and I kept my head up, which was most important. I just focused and concentrated so much, and I stayed positive. For the future I just want to compete with the best guys in the country and keep improving my game. I want to not just help improve my game, but help my team better. And then hopefully, my senior year I can win a national championship in singles.”
11-09-2006