EDWARDSVILLE – One of the aspects of the USTA Pro Circuit Edwardsville Futures tennis tournament presented by the EGHM Foundation is the international players who come to take part in the tournament
One of those players who took part in the tournament this week was Farris Gosea, who hails from Cardiff, Wales, and played for the University of Illinois' program before going onto the Futures circuit. Gosea reached the doubles quarterfinals with Ante Pavic of Croatia before being eliminated.
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Gosea's experience playing for the Fighting Illini was, in his words, “a great time. I made a lot of friends, met a lot of new people and had a lot of great experiences with my team traveling and playing, so it was a fun time.”
There were some differences living in Champaign-Urbana as opposed to living in Cardiff. “There are definitely some differences,” Gosea said. “Especially it rains a lot back in the UK,” Gosea said with a laugh, “I felt like settled in pretty well and I had a good time.
“I had a pretty successful career (at the U of I); I was an All-American, the Top 10 in (NCAA Division I) tennis – for me, it was a very special period in my life to do well in a sport in college. The Big Ten is a very good conference.”
Gosea came to Champaign because of the Illini coaches. “I really liked the coaches and the team was just incredible – a lot of fun guys,” Gosea said. “I really enjoyed my visit and I just really wanted to go. Champaign's a good place; it's definitely a fun time when school's going on.”
Today, Gosea is on the Futures circuit hoping to build a career playing tennis and move up the ranks to the ATP World Tour. “When I was young, my mother and father used to watch tennis on TV and I wanted to give it a try,” Gosea said. “I got into it and I really liked it, so I kept playing; it's a great sport.
“Hopefully, if I can get into the top 200 by the end of the year, that'd be good, but one of the main goals is to keep improving day by day.”
Being from Great Britain, Gosea's dream is to play on the hallowed ground of Centre Court at the All-England club during Wimbledon. “That is definitely a goal,” Gosea said. “It's a fun tournament; a lot of tradition there. The strawberries and cream (the signature food during The Fortnight of Wimbledon) taste pretty good.”
Once his tennis career comes to an end, Gosea hopes to start a business with a friend of his. “I want to open a style company,” Gosea said.
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