Photo courtesy of University of Virginia Athletics.
Mac Styslinger.
Mac Styslinger has been known to be a talented tennis player. But few could have predicted the success he has had in his freshman year at college.
The Mountain Brook native won the NCAA doubles championship for the University of Virginia Cavaliers after helping the team win its first-ever NCAA national championship. And to cap that off, Styslinger and his doubles partner, Jarmere Jenkins, secured a wild-card berth in the U.S. Open, which will take place later this summer.
“I have loved my experience at Virginia,” Styslinger said. “This year has been incredible with all the success we have had.”
Since his hiring, Cavalier head coach Brian Boland has brought the program from an average ACC team to a consistent national contender. After multiple close losses in the national finals, the team’s first national championship came in Styslinger’s freshman year. It is the first national championship for any ACC school.
“The team championship was definitely more exciting to me than the doubles championship,” Styslinger said. “No one was thinking about individual things going into the tournament; it was all about the team and the team championship.”
The doubles championship, however, was what really thrust Styslinger into the national spotlight. Styslinger partnered with Jenkins, a senior, to come back against Texas in the finals. They won the last set 6-4 to close out the title.
“The doubles championship was really cool because it was Jarmere’s final match in college,” Styslinger said. “I didn’t know him before I got to Virginia, but we roomed together on trips and became pretty good friends. He was the leader of our team. Hopefully I can take some of the things I learned from him while playing doubles into next year playing singles.”
If the NCAA doubles champions are American, the U.S. Open invites them to compete. The U.S. Open is one of the four major tennis tournaments each year, meaning Styslinger and Jenkins will be competing against the best tennis players in the world come August.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Styslinger said. “I’m not nervous at all. Maybe I’ll be nervous when I get there or something, but right now I feel like I have nothing to lose.”
The tennis star is not new to the big stage. He has played in the junior version of every Grand Slam event.
Styslinger attended the world-famous IMG Bollettieri Academy in Florida during high school, and learned under the tutelage of the best coaches in the world. Tennis stars such as Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, and Venus and Serena Willimas are graduates of the school.
Styslinger, whose father Mark played tennis at Southern Methodist University, was a relative unknown on the tennis circuit before his performance at the Junior Australian Open in 2011. Against the odds, he played his way into the quarterfinals of the tournament, catching the eye of college scouts across the country. His chose to play for the Cavaliers over many other offers.
“Virginia had been in contact with me for a long time,” Styslinger said. “I just loved it when I went up there to visit, and I loved the coaches.”
The typical thing to do for a tennis athlete who has experienced the level of success Styslinger has is to go pro and forego the rest of college. For now though, Styslinger is happy at Virginia, planning to stay and major in economics as he begins his sophomore year in the fall.
“I’m definitely getting better as a tennis player,” Styslinger said. “I don’t feel any need to rush anything. I’m getting a great education here at Virginia, and I have loved it here.”
