Benjamin O'Brien '23 Recruiting Profile

I'm an Italian, Irishman who was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. I have

both the Austrian and Italian citizenship. My mother is Italian, my father

Irish. I have one sister who is currently studying for her Masters in

Environmental Science in Paris. I have relatives in the US, in Pennsylvania

and California.

I have been playing tennis since the age of 8. Tennis has been my main

sports focus since I watched Jo Wilfried Tsonga at the US Open in 2011. In

2014, I was lucky enough to join the Günter Bresnik Academy near Vienna. I

have been training there ever since. I played national tournaments at U12

and national and international tournaments at U14 and U16. My highest junior

ranking was pre-COVID (U16) when I was the no. 9 nationally. In 2019, I

decided to leave school in Vienna and complete my  'High School

Graduation Certificate' in online home schooling. I have updated ny GPA to 3.4 to include my current core classes. I only need to complete Math, English and US History to graduate

Since, 2020 I have been playing national cat. 1 adult tournaments, often

against good ITF adult players and some with ATP rankings. I have enjoyed my

time at the Bresnik Academy so much that this year I decided to take the 'Austrian Tennis Instructor License Course'. This course
is the official certification for tennis trainers from the Austrian Tennis
Association. My freetime is now split between my own training and giving
classes at the academy to performance oriented 10 -12 year olds. I really
enjoy helping them the improve their skill sets - just like I did!
When I'm not playing or watching tennis, my main interests are reading and
collecting sports statistics, the NBA and my dog 'Bubbles'.
My main goal is to be the best version of me. That means being the best I
can be in school and in sport. I'm dedicated, reliable and always focused on
what I'm doing at any one time. My main goal in making this application to 'hopefully' be able to experience a new culture for my future tennis and
academic career. A history or sports management degree from an American University and the possibility of
playing college tennis would open up opportunities that I don't believe I
would have here in Vienna. Ultimately, I'd like to be able to work in tennis
in the future, as a coach, analyst or in event management - or all three.