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By Courtney Scrivano
Director of Marketing, Bear Foundation
It's Friday night. The lights are bright. The crowd is electric. For many in the stands, this is their favorite time of year, and the hometown pride palpable. No, this isn't Texas High School Football, it's the U.S. Open.
A few miles from the bustling Big Apple, Flushing Meadows is quickly growing into one of the nation's most unique sporting venues. A diverse crowd mills about outside Author Ashe Stadium, from the casual fan to the die-hard fanatic. And among those inside the stadium are two former Baylor Bears.
John Peers (2011) is enjoying his most successful year on the tour alongside doubles partner Jamie Murray. They will try to contest their record run at Wimbledon as they compete in the Men's Doubles semifinals on Thursday. Craig O'Shannessy (1991) is the behind-the-scenes alum rapidly gaining recognition as an analytics pioneer and numbers guru. Playing different roles, both are making their presence known in a highly competitive, often mysterious sport -- and making Baylor proud in the process.
The Pioneer
"Start from the end." This is the idea that set Craig O'Shannesy to his current mission of bringing the sport of tennis into the modern era -- an idea with the potential to level the playing field currently dominated by a powerful few.
O'Shannessy, a native Australian who now resides in Austin, Texas, is a leading expert on employing video analysis and statistical tracking of matches to gain a competitive edge. Through his company Brain Games Tennis and as the strategy analyst for the ATP World Tour and WTA Tennis, he is bringing it to the masses.
"A player has the worst view of the match," O'Shannessy said. "They're looking out at the match, where the rest of the world is looking in on the match. Video analysis accelerates development for a player better than anything else."
"I video my players' matches, then I take it to software called Dartfish, which enables you to tag matches and cut it up into patterns of play," he explained. "So when you have the discussion with the player after the match, you're backing it up with facts and video. That turns a discussion that is typically dominated by opinion, to one that is completely dominated by facts."
Recognized for his unique insight, O'Shannessy is regularly invited to sit on panels with tennis legends like Chris Evert and John McEnroe. He served as the official analyst for both Wimbledon and the Australian Open this year. And at the U.S. Open, in addition to coaching, he is covering matches for the New York Times.
O'Shannessy has come a long way from the small Australian town where he grew up, but a modest upbringing helped him make the most of his time at Baylor.
"I think a lot of people look at Waco and don't have the view that it's a great city, but I enjoyed Waco and Baylor. I learned a lot and got better as a tennis player and person. I have a B.A. Journalism degree from Baylor, which really helps in what I'm doing now."
On campus for the NCAA Championships this past spring, he noted that Baylor's current facilities and program are among the "elite top five in the country."
"What Matt [Knoll] and Joey [Scrivano] have done is really pioneering in college tennis. There are a lot of older schools that used to dominate. They have put Baylor on the map and that has given hope to other schools that traditionally haven't been tennis powerhouses."
It would take a pioneer to know one. O'Shannessy's approach is a departure in a sport that is often reluctant to embrace change.
"The bottom line is that I start from the end," he said. "I start with, `we're here to win matches,' and backtrack from there. You need to know patterns and percentages on what wins, and then strokes are developed to serve those patterns."
Yet, just as he confidently coaches a relative underdog taking on the untouchable elite, he's not one to shy away from the challenge.
"When I first started this, it was almost like they tried to diminish the impact of studying video and analyzing numbers," he said. "But I know differently. I've taken players and improved them to places they didn't think they could get, because we've done our homework."
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The Pro
The opposing doubles squad and partner Jamie Murray are at their respective benches, the chair umpire has called time, the crowd is silent and eager for the match to begin, and John Peers is still at the baseline trying to get in one more solid practice serve.
This moment exemplifies Peers' rising career: squeeze out every bit of practice and preparation to find an edge. The approach has paid off. Peers and Murray are currently enjoying a string of successes this year including a deep run at the French Open and competing in the Wimbledon finals.
"It was a little surreal, because it's something you grow up watching on TV," Peers said. "To be living out what you dreamed of as a kid -- staying up late, watching Centre Court at Wimbledon -- you want to believe you can do it yourself. So actually being on Center Court, playing Wimbledon and living out your dream is just a surreal experience."
That experience propelled Peers and Murray into the hard court season, which brought about a title in Hamburg immediately following Wimbledon.
"You take on more confidence," Peers said of the success this season. "We've always won a lot of smaller tournaments, but now we're starting to actually be consistent in bigger ones. It's like the hard work consolidates, and it's paying off."
"It's the whole prospect, from increasing the percentages that improve your technique, through to fitness percentages," he said of his approach to succeeding on the tour. "You have to keep evolving what you're doing and never stop learning."
Lessons learned have come through trial and error, but Peers feels his time in college was also a key in preparing for the grueling schedule of the tour.
"Collegiate tennis provided a lot of matches in a short period of time, which is what I needed before I turned pro straight after college," he said. "Baylor was an environment that gave me the right training and the right coaching and support, both on and off the court. I thought it was the perfect fit for me."
His advice for current student-athletes hoping to make it on the pro circuit is simple enough.
"Surround yourself with the right people," Peers said. "Try to put the right processes in place to give yourself the best chance to succeed."
And if they ever make it Centre Court at Wimbledon: "It's something you probably don't realize is a great accomplishment at the time," John said of his recent finals match. "But doing what you want to be doing is great fun, and you've got to enjoy it and try to embrace what this opportunity brings."
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