Leaving a Mark on Duquesne Men's Tennis

Jared Isaacs’ college tennis career didn’t end on his own terms. That doesn’t mean he didn’t leave his mark.

A really, really big mark.

Isaacs, a graduating senior at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, recently broke the school’s all-time wins record. A few days later, the remainder of the tennis season was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

He finishes his career with an astounding 149 total wins (78 singles, 71 doubles).

“The season ending like that — I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” he said. “We were just playing matches and moving through our normal routine. You blink, and it’s done.”

As disappointing as it is, Isaacs isn’t letting the cancellation keep him down for long. The Supply Chain Management major, who already has a job lined up at PNC in Downtown Pittsburgh, sees it as a learning opportunity.

“It shows how much we can all take things for granted,” he said. “As upset as we are, we know how important this is. It’s a crazy time but we appreciate all the chances we’ve had here as a team.”

Isaacs knew what he was getting into at Duquesne. His older sister, Kylie, was a star at the university as well, breaking the all-time wins record on the women’s tennis side before graduating two years ago. Kylie finished her career with 188 wins.

Jared watched her success as he wrapped up his high school career at North Allegheny (where he was athlete of the year in 2015-16) and began his college playing days.

He got off to a stellar start to his Duquesne career, leading the team in singles and doubles wins in just his first year. He never looked back from there.

“The wins were great. But looking back, some of the best memories of college tennis have been the social aspect,” said Isaacs, who grew up playing USTA Tournaments. “Getting to know so many of the guys on the team and traveling to new places. College tennis gives you all of that.”

Isaacs plans on keeping up with team play in the coming years. He already has experience in USTA League Tennis, playing on a 5.0 team with captain Trent Goerk. He hopes to compete on a team again in 2020, and is considering competing in other high-level adult tournaments throughout the year.

“It’s just a ton of fun to play,” he said. “I can’t see myself not playing tennis any time in the future. Hopefully I can go along playing for a long time.”

With sports seasons being short for both high school and college student-athletes, USTA Middle States is featuring seniors who were unable to finish their final tennis season. If you know a senior player who deserves recognition, nominate them here and we’ll do our best to get them the attention they deserve.