Yannick Talla '25 Recruiting Profile

I am a passionate junior tennis player who started playing tennis in the Czech Republic when I was five years old. I quickly learned the tennis strokes and started competing at the age of 7 at the regional tournaments. My private coach saw my tennis potential and after talking to my parents and encouraging them, they decided to move to Florida so I could have better conditions for training and competing. I moved to Florida in 2015 when I was 8 years old. I immediately started training at the high-performance tennis program at Canas Tennis Academy in Aventura, Florida, where I still train now. I also started playing the USTA junior tournaments right upon our arrival in Florida. I won many USTA junior tournaments, and I was often a seeded player. 

When I turned 15, I started playing Men’s Open tennis tournaments such as Battle of Boca in Boca Raton, Florida which provides me with an opportunity to play against mature college players which helps me prepare for college tennis. My goal is to become a professional tennis player, and I believe that playing college tennis would prepare me for the professional level. I have a great backhand and serve, and I like coming into the net which distinguishes me from the most players. I also enjoy playing doubles where I can use my net skills. I have a strong mentality which allows me to control myself on court and stay calm which helps me win more matches. In addition, I have a good reputation amongst the referees in Florida since I am known as a fair player.  

I switched to online school in 2019 due to the flexibility of the program which allowed me to train in a high-performance program at a tennis academy. I kept all A's at the online school despite the fact that I took all honors courses possible which proves that I am well equipped to manage my school activities in an online setting while also training and competing at the tennis tournaments. Balancing school and tennis is not an easy task but with dedication and proper time management I managed to excel both in school and on court which will make me thrive in college. I am excited for this new chapter in my life!