By Danny Brady
“It felt like I was dreaming. I have always wanted to play [at the US Open] and I got to rally with players that I watch on TV.”
Haru Inoue, a graduate assistant coach for the Springfield College men’s tennis team, got the opportunity of a lifetime: to rally and warm up with some of the sport’s biggest stars at the 2023 US Open in New York City.
“My former teammate worked there previously so that is how I first heard about it,” Inoue said “Then my coach helped connect me with people working for the US Open. That’s how I got the position.”
While training, certain players caught his attention, thanks to their combination of skills and mindset.
“I was impressed with how [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner practiced,” Inoue said. “They have the right attitude and focus, and both are naturally gifted.”
Alcaraz and Sinner are the youngest active Grand Slam winners on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour and both are currently ranked in the top three of the latest ATP rankings, behind only Novak Djokovic.
Inoue also had the unique experience of rallying with Daniil Medvedev, the winner of the 2021 US Open. After his first time rallying with Inoue, the championship-level tennis player specifically requested that he warm him up before each match he played at the tournament – a huge honor for the young coach.
“I knew Medvedev was requesting me because people working at the practice desk told me,” Inous said.It was fun practicing with him. He hits balls flat and doesn’t put as much topspin compared to other players. But his ability to keep hitting balls deep and close to the baseline was amazing.”
Medvedev made it all the way to the final, where he lost in straight sets to Djokovic, the all-time leader in men’s Grand Slam titles, with 24 and counting.
This experience wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Inoue’s past success in the sport as a player. He was born and raised in Tokyo, and started playing tennis when he was just 4 years old.
“At the beginning I was playing just for fun, but when I was 12 [years old], I started playing in national tournaments in Japan and started thinking that I could be a professional in the future,” he said.
Due to his high level at a young age, and sustained success throughout his teen years, Inoue had the opportunity to play Division I college tennis in the United States.
“Going to a Japanese college was one of my options but I knew the level of college tennis in the U.S. was way higher and I wanted to have that experience,” he said.
Inoue chose to play at Wichita State in Kansas and was very successful there. During his four-year career with the program, he was a two-time all-MVC (Missouri Valley Conference) player in 2016 and 2017 and reached career-high Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings of 58th, and ITA doubles ranking of 22nd.
“I had a really good experience [in college],” Inoue said “I faced a lot of high-level opponents and I learned to play not just for myself but for the team.”
He also won a total of 118 total matches, 68 singles and 50 doubles, and that experience is something that has helped Inoue in his coaching career.
During his time at Wichita State, Inoue played in professional tournaments each summer and learned a lot about how far he could take his abilities.
“I was doing okay but I was playing the lowest level of tournaments,” he said “It’s very tough financially, because in tennis you have to pay a lot of money for traveling, hotels and food.”
Even though his professional career was short-lived, Inoue still made a major breakthrough when he won his first and only International Tennis Federation (ITF) singles title in a 32-person main draw in South Korea.
“It was at the very end of my tennis career and I didn’t expect to win at all,” he said. “I played the best tennis of my career in that tournament and that was a special moment for me.”
After he quit playing, Inoue decided to pursue sports psychology as a career, and became interested in the program at Springfield College.
“I knew there was a Japanese professor that graduated from this program at Springfield and also worked as a graduate assistant for the Tennis team,” he said. “I heard good things from him about Springfield so I reached out to the former head coach here and ended up getting the graduate assistant position.”
Inoue is in the midst of his third and final season as a graduate assistant and has enjoyed coaching at Springfield.
“The players here are very motivated,” he said. “They often ask for individual practice sessions before team practice so it’s always fun to work with them and help them improve.”
After the season, Inoue will pursue a doctorate’s degree in sports psychology elsewhere, with the goal of working with more professional tennis players in the future.
“I hope that what I study in the program can help tennis players improve their mindset and ability on the court in the future,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Haru Inoue.