University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Gophers in the Pros: Felix Corwin and Matic Spec
8/6/2018 11:02:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The pair of Gopher grads have taken their talents to the pro circuit
Gopher Sports sat down with recent Men's Tennis grads Felix Corwin and Matic Spec to hear what they have been up to since graduation. After leading Minnesota to a Sweet 16 berth last season, the pair have been competing professionally, traveling around the United States, and documenting their journey on their Twitter account @PGophers. They have competed in singles individually and doubles together so far this summer.
During their tenure at Minnesota, Corwin went 89-42 in singles, competing in the No. 1 spot last season, while Spec went 91-43 in his career, holding down the No. 2 singles spot last season.
Gopher Sports: The lifestyle of the pro circuit is a lot different from what you experienced as a college player (organizing your own travel, not with a team, etc), how have you adjusted, and what have been the biggest differences for you two?
Matic Spec: We have played a good amount of professional tournaments before, so there isn't anything that we haven't experienced before. However, there is a big change in the sheer volume of the matches and tournaments that we will be playing. While in previous summers we both played some pro tournaments, but also took some time to relax and be at home, this year we went straight into the pro rhythm, which means that we are playing tournaments the majority of the weeks, and spend the rest of the time practicing as much as we can. So far we have played 6 tournaments in the last 7 weeks, and we only had a week or two after the school year ended. This pace will slow down a little bit, but we are aiming to play around 30 tournaments a year (each of them lasts a week), and along with the singles we try to play doubles at each of this tournaments. So we got to be very careful on how we do things every day in order to stay in good shape, as well as prevent injuries. In college we also had a lot of matches and practices, but it certainly picks up on the pro tour, so the biggest difference is definitely the volume and just continuous matches week in and week out. It's something that you have to embrace in order to not burn out and get too stressed.
GS: Where have you two set up your home base for training and living when not on the road? What has the experience been like being away from home and on the road so much?
MS: Right now out home base is in Milwaukee, where Felix is from, and where he practiced as a junior. We are playing at the same club that he used to, where his dad is also the director. It's a good place to be, with good coaches and other players that we can practice with. It's also close to Minnesota, which is nice if we ever want to visit our former teammates or watch some college matches.
Felix Corwin: Life on the road is really pretty monotonous. We play matches most of the time, travel between the tournaments, try to practice and workout and rest. In the free time we're mostly just reading or watching shows. It's definitely nice that you see a lot of similar faces at these tournaments, so we met a lot of friendly people and there are always some guys that we can talk to or hang out with. This certainly makes the life on the road a little less dull.
GS: How do you guys keep yourselves busy and entertained on long road trips? Do you stay connected with family/friends while on the road?
MS: Like we mentioned already, we really just try to rest whenever we are not practicing or working out, so we watch a lot of shows and read books. A lot of times these tournaments are in small towns, so there isn't much to do, but to stay in the hotel and rest. But so far neither of us has grown bored of it, it can be pretty enjoyable to have time for yourself and relax. We definitely stay connected with our families and update them about our trips, matches, and everything else. They're very eager to know about everything that's going on.
GS: Your @PGophers twitter account features a lot of personality. Who is the face behind the account, and is there a future in Instagram as well?
MS: It's a joint account so we both try to contribute to our best abilities. The only unwritten rule we have is probably that if one of us loses, the other guy posts the update, because neither of us enjoy thinking about the matches we've lost. We are happy to see that our account has gathered a little following, and that there are people who enjoy our updates and are interested in how we are doing. As far as the Instagram goes, we aren't sure if that'll ever be a thing, right now we don't take quite enough photos on the road to be able to keep the followers happy with constant updates.
GS: What was the experience of facing each other with a spot in the main draw on the line? Any trash talk between you two?
MS: It's never nice to play each other, because we both want each other to do well, and also because it means that one of us has to lose and in that specific case only one of us was able to make it to the final and retain the chance to get an ATP point and earn some money (Felix did indeed end up getting a point). There was no trash talk, we went about things as we would for any other match, we actually even warmed up together before the match. It was kind of cool that the match ended up being a total battle and took three and a half hours, so we really have to give our all and there wasn't any regrets or bad blood after it. But it would certainly be nice if in the future we get to avoid such run-ins.
GS: How did playing at Minnesota prepare you both for what you're doing now on the pro circuit? What do you miss most about playing at Minnesota?
MS: Playing for Minnesota definitely exposed us to the level of tennis that is comparable to the one played on the tour, and showed us that we can compete and beat anyone. Further, we had great coaches and team around us, so we were able to spend 4 years practicing hard and maintaining a high level of play, while finishing college. This part is actually very important, because the knowledge that we have a good degree if tennis doesn't work out decreases stress and allows us to concentrate on improving our game instead of thinking of results and how high we are ranked all the time.
FC: There are a lot of things to miss. College matches were the kind of experience that the pro tour just can't replicate, and playing for the team is something that we are both very glad to have experience. Being with a group of people that are like family away from home and that you can always turn to is the thing that made college special, and there was never a dull moment at The U. This is what we will probably miss the most about it.
GS: Being college roommates is one thing, but being on the road with one person is a whole other story. Any stories between you two this summer?
MS: We have had a pretty straightforward experience on the road thus far. Lots of tennis with meals and sleep in between. The standard grind. One portion of our trip that was a little different was our trip to Iowa City a couple of weeks ago. We had along with us an extra rider. Wisconsin Badger rising senior Osgar O'hoisin was in Milwaukee at the time we were before heading out to Iowa. We made space for him to come with. Although he is a fierce rival of the Gophers during the school year, it was really great getting to know him. No matter the history we have with a lot of the other college players from collegiate play, we realize that these are our friends out on the tour. It can be boring on the road if we don't make new friends and connections. All in all, really happy we got to know Osgar on the trip and appreciate the friendly rivalry with a fellow Big Ten competitor.