April 30, 2015
By Jerome Boettcher | Subscribe to Commodore Nation
To say Vanderbilt freshman Daniel Valent was starstruck would be a huge understatement.
He started throwing a tennis ball against the wall when he was two years old. He entered his first tournament when he was seven. At age 14, he won the Swiss Championships indoor and outdoor finals and rose to No. 1 in the junior rankings in Switzerland.
So for a tennis enthusiast such as Valent, standing on the other side of the net from arguably the greatest tennis player in the world was a thrill to say the least.
“Roger Federer is my man crush,” he said. “I know pretty much everything there is to know about him. I wrote my final paper in high school about him. It was 30 pages long. Yeah, I’m obsessed with that guy.”
Two years ago, in Hamburg, Germany, Valent shared the court with Federer. Two natives of Switzerland — one with 17 Grand Slam championships to his name, the other a budding young player wanting to make a grand first impression to his idol.
Federer’s coach knew Valent’s junior coach and called him and asked him if his pupil would be interested in warming up Federer before a match in the ATP Tournament. Valent had just finished a match in a junior tournament in Hamburg and was back in his hotel room stretching when his coach called him. Valent, just 17 at the time, didn’t think twice and picked up his racquet to face the pro.
“It was amazing,” Valent said. “When we played together, I was really nervous. I just told myself, just give it your best and go for every ball. I remember after practice, I asked him, `So what do you think?’ He said I like your intensity. Sometimes he just hit a drop shot just for fun and he thought, `OK, now the point is over.’ But I really went for every shot and he was real surprised.”
Eventually, Valent hopes to join Federer on the professional stage. It is a dream of his, one his brother, Roman, lived. Roman, who is 12 years older, went pro before he finished high school back in their hometown of Zurich, Switzerland, won Junior Wimbledon and rose to No. 180 in the ATP rankings.
“I always saw my brother playing and I also wanted to play,” Valent.
Daniel, however, wanted to pursue college tennis in the United States before taking a shot on the professional circuit. He had played in Futures Tournaments in the International Tennis Federation and decided he wasn’t ready for the men’s tour.
So he visited Vanderbilt — after associated head coach Jamie Hunt reached out to him — and chose the Commodores over North Carolina and Wake Forest.
“I just liked our team mentality — we went out and played wiffleball (on his visit) and had a lot of fun,” said Valent, a biological sciences major. “I also liked the campus. You can walk everywhere. The coaches seemed really professional. They know what they are doing. Everyone gave me the feeling they really care about me. College tennis here is a highlight for me. The fans, how they support us, I’m not used to that. To experience tennis as a team is pretty cool. I love playing tennis for a team. We have that in Switzerland but it was not that close.”
Living in the United States has been a bit of a transition for Valent, with the language barrier providing the biggest challenge. He speaks four languages fluently — his native tongue of German, Czech (his parents are from Czech Republic) and French. He believes his English has gotten much better now since he speaks it every day.
He has also had to adjust to different food and the lack of some of his favorites like Swiss chocolate and Swiss bread. In fact, he brought over 25 pounds of Swiss chocolate, which quickly disappeared as he passed it out to his teammates and friends.
Experiencing a team mentality has also been a new, rewarding and enjoyable process for Valent. While much emphasis is put on individual play internationally, the team camaraderie and playing for team championships has been a welcome experience.
“The most important lesson I’ve learned is to put the team first,” said Valent, who was riding a 12-match winning streak in mid-February. “Tennis is a sport where you’re alone on the court. I didn’t understand this concept. But, now when we have these meets, I saw how we were all supporting each other. That is one of the best experiences I’ve had here — playing tennis as a team.”
Valent has goals of continuing the team concept as he hopes to play for Team Switzerland in the Davis Cup some day, along with the Olympics. But he knows has much room to improve before he reaches that point.
Just thinking back to that summer day two years ago when he swatted back on forth with Federer reminds him of that. Federer’s serving accuracy bewildered Valent. Often he returned shots up by his eyes because Federer puts so much “ridiculous” spin on the ball.
Every time he steps onto the court, he uses his match against Federer as motivation, to stay humble while simultaneously fueling for goals that lie ahead. “It is a great inspiration,” he said. “Sometimes I’m on the court and I feel very good. Then I tell myself, `But remember when you played Roger, how he was hitting the ball?’ Then I always know what I can do better.”
