Less than a year ago, Roi Ginat was sitting on an Israeli military base, balancing his time between his service and playing professional tennis. Now, Ginat lives in a state he has never visited, in a country he's seen twice and spends most of his time playing college tennis in Tempe.
The freshman from Israel is one of the two new players on the ASU men's tennis team this year, and despite being into multiple different sports growing up, tennis was the sport that Ginat wanted to master.
He started playing at a young age, thanks to an everyday inspiration – his family.
"My brothers both played (tennis), and my dad was a tennis coach," Ginat said. "I tried multiple different sports growing up, but seeing them on the tennis court all the time got something fired up inside of me. I saw them as role models and just wanted to be part of it."
Ginat picked the sport up quickly and became one of the best junior players in Israel and the world, ranking as high as 149th in the International Tennis Federation junior world rankings.
He recalls competing in Europe as a youngster and playing in Futures tournaments around the continent until 2019 when he started to compete in the ITF World Tennis Tour.
"One of my favorite memories was my first time playing on clay courts," Ginat said. "We don't have many in my country, and I used to watch all these big players play on them in the French Open and all these other big tournaments worldwide. It was so exciting for me."
After high school, Ginat looked forward to playing more tennis and wanted to go pro eventually, but first, he had to join the Israeli military.
Israel requires any citizen over 18 to mandatorily serve in the Israeli military. Men are required to do 32 months, while women serve 24.
"It was an interesting learning experience for me," Ginat said. "Being able to do as much training as possible still, and having to be in the military base and function in that area as well. It was tough to handle different situations and difficulties that some people my age don't usually experience in different countries."
However, Ginat still got to play the sport he loves the most. He was able to train several hours a day during his service and still play not only inside the country, but outside as well. About halfway through his service, Ginat first crossed paths with ASU coach Matt Hill.
"He reached out to me; he knew someone I was in contact with and that I didn't work out with," Ginat said. "He got my name from him, and when (Hill) reached out, he showed me ASU and what it was like, and he said he thinks it would benefit both of us. It turned out for the best."
Even though Ginat was skeptical about college tennis because of his desire to go on the pro circuit, he eventually decided that ASU was his best option.
He already knew that Hill and college tennis would help him grow more. He didn't even need an official visit to decide that Tempe was the best place to be for the next part of his career.
"(Ginat) brings a ton of maturity and discipline to the group and is just a great team guy," Hill said. "He's been super fun to have around. We brought him in this January, and he's been a really good addition to the team."
Up to this point in his life, Ginat had only been to the U.S. twice, and had never been to the state of Arizona before his commitment to the Sun Devils. When he arrived in Tempe for the first time, he was immediately amazed by the culture and infrastructure.
"I couldn't believe how big the campus was," Ginat said. "We'd drive five minutes, and coach said, 'Yeah, this is the campus, this is the business school.' Then we'd drive five more minutes and say, 'This is the football stadium.' It took me a minute to know where I had to go every day. I've been enjoying it. The weather and the people and the campus are so nice."
The 21-year-old had little difficulty fitting in, despite having so much to adjust to in his new daily life. Sophomore Murphy Cassone said he admires Ginat's superb poise and composure on the court, something he calls rare in college tennis when the margins in the matches are so thin.
Ginat joins a roster that underwent plenty of modifications over the last offseason. Despite this, he clicked instantly with his new coaches and teammates.
"It's like he's been here for years already," junior Max McKennon said about his new teammate.
Ginat's goals at ASU on and off the court are nothing out of the ordinary. He wants to ensure that he can enjoy his time here, influence as many people as possible and maybe watch some soccer with his two favorite teams, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Manchester United, on TV.
"Getting to know myself better is what I want to do, and getting to know as many people as I can," Ginat said. "I want to make new friends, be influential for as many people as I can watching me and enjoy the time and the moments because it's not gonna be the same when I get older."
Edited by Walker Smith, Reagan Priest and Anusha Natarajan.
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.
