By Anthony Reyes
For New Mexico State Media Relations
LAS CRUCES - Junior Gustave Diep is the latest international import helping the New Mexico State men’s tennis program achieve its goals. The future surgeon is acing his competition on and off the court. Along with a 4.0 GPA and medical school aspirations, Diep is the anchor of the men’s tennis team that opens up spring competition this weekend at the NMSU Tennis Center.
When asked how one can manage their time so effectively, Diep credited his organizational skills.
“I think it is a lot about organization and not waiting until the last minute to study,” the Paris, France native said. “You can still manage schoolwork, if you talk to your professor beforehand. Keep up with the work, because if you just wait until three days before the exam, it is really hard.”
Although Diep has balanced his schoolwork and tennis time well, he does struggle when it comes to narrowing down a specific type of medicine to pursue.
“I am a biochemistry major right now. I am planning on going to medical school which is hard, but I am going to try. In medicine I would like to be some type of surgeon, that would be cool.”
Head coach Ball describes his two-time all-WAC player as a solid performer that is consistent, hard working and talented as anybody the tennis team has ever had. Ball also complimented Diep by stating the team has gotten much better the last few years with him being around.
Along with the team improving since his arrival, Diep’s tennis game has gotten significantly better. Ball said that Diep changing surfaces from clay to hard courts when he came to NM State forced him to work on his serve.
“His service game has improved dramatically,” Ball said. “He had a clay court serve when he started here. On clay, the serve is not as important and the match is determined by groundstrokes. Now he uses his serve as a weapon and scores with aces, his serve is more of an asset now.”
Diep and the team’s tireless work ethic leads them to believe that they can perform much better than last year.
“We have a new Croatian player (freshman Matej Stakne) that is really good and the rest of the team is improving so the team looks really good,” Diep said. “We have a better team this year than last year, so hopefully we can win a lot of matches and the WAC.”
Diep’s desire to play tennis in college led him to the United States and to NM State. A friend in France first put the idea in Diep’s head. Diep’s friend recommended New Mexico State because of the facilities and coaches.
Diep said, “I was looking for a college in the US, because in France after high school, you go straight to medical school, and it is impossible to manage playing tennis and med school together.”
Moving from France to New Mexico is a huge change for anyone, but Diep has handled changes in culture, government and climate with ease. He hasn’t just handled the changes in his life with ease, he has embraced them.
“I like the weather and surroundings in Las Cruces,” he said. “I really like playing here especially on these courts. The school is good too, I really like it here.”
Diep is setting the standard for student-athletes in the classroom and on the court. Diep’s success proves the adage that hard work does in fact pay off.
Courtesy: New Mexico State University
