March 27, 2017
By Joseph Hooven
Auburn men's tennis player Viboosh Chandrasekar is a junior from Boston, Mass., studying finance in the College of Business. His hard work on and off the court throughout his time at Auburn sets the perfect example for what it means to be a student-athlete.
Chandrasekar, being from Boston, learned early that he had only one choice when it came to football teams: "The Patriots. No Question."
But what he also learned at a young age was how to play tennis, and how to play tennis at a high level.
"I started a playing a long time ago, probably when I was five or six. I guess I got into it because of my parents, but I noticed I wasn't bad, so I stuck with it. The more and more I played, the better I got."
The training that propelled Chandrasekar to play tennis at a Division I level came from the Manchester Athletic Club in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., where he was coached by Fransisco Montoya, a coach who has worked with some of the world's best professional tennis players like Venus and Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova. Because of the training he got from such an experienced coach, Chandrasekar was ranked among the top five tennis players in New England.
"It was nice. He had so much experience and brought a lot to the table. He clearly knew what he was doing and we had a great relationship. It was great to be able to learn from him."
When Chandrasekar isn't working on his game, he is working hard on his schoolwork, which is a big priority for him.
He wanted to play for a major tennis school, but what made him decide to come to Auburn was the reputation of the high-level education he would receive here. "It's a big tennis school. It is in the SEC, and I think it is one of the few in the country that has a good combination of academics and tennis."
"Boosh" as his friends and teammates call him prides himself in "breaking away from the stereotype of student-athletes not doing well in the classroom." So he focuses a large portion of his time and effort on his academics, and it has paid off. While he has been at Auburn, Chandrasekar has been named an Academic Top Tiger, an ITA Scholar-Athlete and he has earned a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
"Coach Bobby (Reynolds) wants us to focus on school stuff as much as tennis. Tennis can only get you so far in life, even if you were to go pro. To me it's just as important. Academics will be with you forever."
Chandrasekar is majoring in finance and soon business analytics, and hopes to work on Wall Street one day.
Along with his education, the thing he enjoys most about playing at Auburn is the warm weather. "I was looking for nice weather. We are in the South so we get a lot of that, which means less indoor tennis, so it is really nice."
Chandrasekar also enjoys the atmosphere of the campus. He loves that all of the athletes are a close-knit group and are all very supportive of each other no matter what sport.
"It is a really positive environment. When people say the Auburn Family, they really mean it."
Chandrasekar had to learn quickly about the rivalry with Alabama. He was thrown into the rivalry very early, by facing Alabama at Regionals in his first match as a player at Auburn. "I think my favorite moment at Auburn so far was that first match. I got to play a guy from Alabama, and I got to witness all the excitement of the rivalry right out of the gates."
Looking ahead, Chandrasekar hopes to help Auburn reach the NCAA Tournament this year, something that Auburn has fallen short of the past few years.
"I want the team to reach the NCAAs. That's the biggest goal for me."
Joseph Hooven is a student assistant in Auburn athletics communications