Before transferring to ASU while continuing his college tennis career, Fabien Salle thought head coach Matt Hill might be ignoring him.
When Salle reached out to the ASU tennis team, they didn’t respond. He also reached out to UA, who also didn’t respond. This made Salle wonder why they wouldn’t write back.
After talking to former ASU tennis player Andrea Bolla about his situation, Bolla told Hill about Salle. He called Salle less than a day later.
"Right away he called me, and he apologized, saying he forgot to check his email." Salle said. "He (Hill) said, 'of course we are interested.'"
UA never corresponded, which made it an easy decision for Salle, who joined the Sun Devils a week later.
“People are drawn to him a lot,” Hill said. “He is a natural, emotional leader that every team wants to have.”
Salle was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and said he was inspired early in life by his father who pushed him to play the sport.
“He was very passionate about tennis even though he didn’t play. Nobody in my family really did,” Salle said. “Growing up, he never had the chance to play it. So he pushed me to play, and I instantly loved it.”
Salle played tennis all across Europe growing up, in countries like Spain, Portugal, Albania and Croatia. When he played in the juniors circuit, he earned a No. 13 Universal Tennis Rating after playing in ITF Pro Futures tournaments.
“I traveled a lot when I was around 16, 17 years old,” Salle said. “Sweden was one of my favorites because the people were very nice over there and, they kinda took me under their wing which was very cool.”
When it became time to commit to a college, the University of Louisville offered him a spot basically "out of nowhere," he said. U.S. tennis was fairly foreign to Salle, but he committed anyway.
Throughout his three seasons at Louisville, Salle excelled on both the court and the classroom. He was named to the ACC academic honor roll all three years he was there and graduated early with a bachelor's degree in finance.
“I think the main goal of any college athlete is to balance their school and their sports,” Salle said. “It’s definitely something I’m proud of because of my balance between tennis and school, and being in a different country.”
Salle said the coaches made him feel extremely comfortable, making his decision to come to Tempe after Louisville easier for him. That smooth transition was a combination of a gained knowledge of U.S. college tennis, a change in scenery and an instant connection with captain Max McKennon.
After about a month-and-a-half in, Salle was named co-captain of the team alongside McKennon.
Despite it being his first season with the Sun Devils, Salle was the oldest on the roster. But his teammates "trusted him" even though he was the newcomer. Salle said his goals at ASU are simple, especially on the tennis side of things.
"Whatever happens on the court, I’ll be there trying to win every point."
Reach the reporter at vdeange1@asu.edu and follow @vdeangelis2024 on Twitter.
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Vincent Deangelis is a full-time reporter for the sports department at The State Press. He has previously worked for Arizona PBS and AZPreps365.com.
