By Aidan O’Connor | Sports Writer
When Luc Koenig was a little boy in South Africa, his father, Rob Koenig, gave him a choice: Luc could do anything he wanted, or he could follow in his father’s footsteps as a professional tennis player. His father never forced tennis on him but made sure he knew that the journey to becoming a professional tennis player would be hard.
Now, a junior on Baylor men’s tennis team, Luc accepted the challenge and ran with it.
“My dad played some dubs (doubles) on the tour, and he’s always been so supportive of me,” Luc said. “He said to me when I was younger, ‘If you don’t want to play tennis, that’s completely okay with me. You can do whatever you want, but just know that if you’re going to do this, I’m going to push you.’”
In junior tennis, Luc was highly successful, obtaining a UTR rating of 13.19 in singles, winning five junior singles titles and ranking as high as No. 149 on the ITF Circuit. Luc also found success in doubles with his childhood best friend, sophomore Devin Badenhorst, whom he has played tennis alongside since he was 10 years old. Together, the South African duo won the J4 Pretoria and J5 Durban. The early success made Luc a sought-after recruit once he made the decision to go to college.
After long deliberation, there were only two schools he was considering; one of them was Baylor.
“When I visited, I saw the people around here, saw what they were like, a great Christian community. I just knew this was the place for me,” Luc said.
Since joining the Bears (3-2), Luc has instantly made an impact in singles and found success in doubles play. In duals, Luc currently has a career record of 18-17 in singles and 12-12 in doubles play. His skill set on the court isn’t the only thing Luc brings to the team, though, as head coach Michael Woodson boasts about his unique fire.
“His energy in the dual matches is fantastic,” Woodson said. “I mean, he does play to the crowd, I think he plays to his teammates, and those are the things that are important to him. Enjoying the battle and the competition, [Luc is] just making sure everybody around him is having a great time too.”
When watching a Baylor match, it won’t take long to figure out which court Luc is on. His energy can be felt all over the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Facility. Every point scored is met with thunderous applause and support from the crowd as Luc, like a conductor, raises his arms and hypes them up. Rousing the crowd has become a staple of his game.
“It’s just great having him on the court with me,” Badenhorst said. “Off the court, [I get to spend] four important years of my life just having a best friend. [That] just makes it even more special.”
Off the court, Luc brings a different type of lighthearted and endearing liveliness that is infectious to all around him. The energy and bond the childhood friends built brought Badenhorst to Baylor. Since Badenhorst arrived, the two have rekindled the same success they had in juniors matches. Last year, when playing doubles together, the South African phenoms went 11-6, including a six-match winning streak.
“Me and Dev had a lot of success together on the doubles court,” Luc said. “It’s obviously great that we’re playing together, but winning together and winning for the other guys on the team also means so much to us. It’s just the best. I’ve got my best friend serving out the set, and I have full faith in him.”
After training together in the summer and winning pro tournaments like the M15 Monastir and ITF M15 Hillcrest, Koenig and Badenhorst have started the spring season hot. The duo is now 2-0 with back-to-back doubles wins over No. 2 TCU, where they won 7-5, and SMU, where they won 6-3.
“[Luc has] always been a hard worker on the tennis court, but there’s a lot of little things that go into being the best version of yourself and really giving yourself a chance to compete well when the lights come on,” Woodson said. “I think he’s really learned that as he’s seen the growth and the development, then he’s become hungrier for additional coaching and being pushed harder.”
Luc has been pushed hard from an early age, whether it be from coaches or his dad. He accepted each challenge and followed in the footsteps of his father while forging a path of his own.
Baylor men’s tennis will be back in action against No. 10 San Diego at 6 p.m. Friday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
