TEMPE– After their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, head coach Matt Hill announced the addition of four transfers set to join Sun Devil Men’s Tennis in the fall. Ofek Shimanov (SMU), Niels Villard (Florida), Kristof Minarik (Wichita State), and Jelani Sarr (South Carolina) are the group set to rep the Maroon & Gold.
Hill praised the new group and the talent they’re bringing to Tempe, “I am super impressed with the group coming in. They have a ton of experience both in the collegiate space and/or the professional space, and we felt like these guys were some of the very top top players that entered the transfer portal.”
As for the depth, Hill emphasized the strengths of the newcomers who will be competing in a loaded Big 12 Conference, “I think this is probably going to be the deepest team we've had at ASU since I've been here.”
Ofek Shimanov /// Sophomore /// Ramla, Israel
As a freshman for SMU, Shimanov competed primarily from the third and fourth singles position and posted a 12-8 singles record, including winning five of first six singles matches of his college career. In doubles, he posted an overall record of 10-12 in doubles, primarily playing with Georgi Georgiev, and was an ITA-ranked pair alongside Georgiev for the latter half of the season. The Israeli native has seen a career-high ATP singles ranking of 822.
Niels Villard /// Sophomore /// Meaux, France
Competing for the Gators his freshman year, Villard appeared in 12 singles matches, 10 of which came from the sixth position, and racked up a 7-4 record in dual matches this past spring. Though he appeared in just three doubles matches last season, he had a 2-1 record alongside a different partner in each match. He held a French ranking of -15 and a UTR of 12.54 prior to his freshman year.
Kristof Minarik /// Redshirt Senior /// Boldog, Slovakia
Before coming to ASU for his final season, Minarik spent four seasons at Wichita State. He was named ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year in 2022 after a career-high 13 singles wins and 12 doubles wins. In four years as a Shocker, Minark owns a 38-28 singles record and 35-25 doubles record. He spent nearly all of 24-25 playing from the first position after an injury halted his 23-24 campaign.
Jelani Sarr /// Junior /// Baltimore, Maryland
Sarr spent two seasons with the Gamecocks and had an impressive 24-25 campaign after soaring to a career-high #77 in the ITA singles polls following a 16-8 singles record. He played at the third, fifth, and sixth positions for USC last season. In doubles play, Sarr went 23-14, 19 of those decisions coming from court two. He saw two ranked doubles wins last season, and was ranked alongside Atakan Karahan peaking at #39 in the ITA doubles polls. The former Blue Chip recruit was ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation for the class of 2023 (via tennisrecruiting.net).
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