By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Before enrolling at Baylor in the fall of 2013, Felipe Rios had already gone through the grind of the satellite pro circuit, making the rounds to every Futures event in South America.

A native of Vina Del Mare, Chile, Rios reached the finals of a $10,000 tournament in Chile in October 2012 when he was 20 years old, his ATP ranking eventually climbing to as high as No. 738 in the world. "It's such a grind, especially down there in South America, where you don't have the same facilities as you do here," he said.

And while he would still love a shot at playing Davis Cup for Chile and might even give pro tennis another chance, his more likely career path is in the financial world. Before graduating in December with a degree in finance, Rios has an internship this summer with a trading company in Chicago.

"I would like to stay here and work in some finance company, hopefully there," he said. "If I do well there (with the internship), I guess I can get an offer."

First things first, though, Rios still has some work left to do on the tennis courts. He is playing No. 3 singles and paired with freshman Jimmy Bendeck at No. 2 doubles for a 35th-ranked Baylor team (15-13) that will face 22nd-ranked Florida State (18-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday in Athens, Ga.

"They have a better ranking than us, but that doesn't mean they're better than us," Rios said. "We have very tough guys at every spot. . . . We're going to fight like little dogs and try to get the win, and hopefully it goes our way."

Things certainly didn't go Rios' way in his first year at Baylor. Not only was he taking classes in a second language, he was transitioning from more familiar clay courts to the hardcourts that are prevalent in the United States and also had to sit out a season because of his previous pro experience.

"It was rough, especially in the season, because you see all of the guys out there competing," he said. "I would practice with them every day, but I couldn't play or travel."

With the change in playing surface, "it was a long process, I'm not going to lie," he said. "In the beginning, I didn't feel comfortable at all. It was just everything, even the footwork. But the coaching staff really helped me get through a lot that first year."

Bursting on the scene last year, Rios made a huge impact for a 25-6 team that lost to eventual national champion Virginia in the NCAA semifinals. He was a team-best 30-8 in singles, playing predominantly at the No. 6 spot, and 31-7 overall in doubles.

"He did everything that you would hope a guy would do," Baylor coach Matt Knoll said. "He fought really hard every day, he was incredible in the classroom in a difficult major, he was a great teammate. . . . He turned himself into a really good doubles player, which he wasn't when he arrived. But he's one of the great Baylor Bears, just another guy that did everything you asked him to do, put his heart into what he was doing here, and is going to go on to do some great, great things after he leaves here."

Beside becoming a much better doubles player, Rios has also become more aggressive and developed a better arsenal with a slice serve and improved backhand.

"I was more of a baseline guy. I didn't come to the net, ever," he said. "My serve is much better now. When I was back in my country playing on clay, I was just kicking the first serve. So, that was a big change, too. And even though I still try to play my forehand a lot, I've worked on my backhand as well. I can drive my backhand a lot more."

Picking up the game when he was 6 years old, playing in the club right next to his house, Rios quickly developed into a solid player. But he also played soccer and did karate, "so after a while I had to decide which sport I wanted to play, and I decided on tennis."

It was through his friendship with Baylor All-American Diego Galeano from Paraguay that Rios even found out about the chance to play college tennis.

"Back in South America, we didn't know about the system here. We didn't know the level," he said. "We just felt like if you come to college, you are retiring from tennis. And that's completely wrong. The level here is unbelievable. Baylor is such an amazing place to play tennis. They have everything."

With Baylor losing Galeano and two other players off last year's team, Rios had to move from the bottom of the singles lineup to a much more challenging spot at No. 3. He is 16-11 overall and 8-8 at the No. 3 spot, including a straight-set win over Texas' Adrian Ortiz that helped the Bears pull out a 4-2 victory over the then No. 17 Longhorns.

"It's not that I'm playing that much better than last year, it's just different. You play quality players all the time," Rios said. "If we play a team that's ranked 40th, their No. 3 guy is still pretty good. So, you've got to be ready all the time. Last year, we'd be playing a team that was ranked 20th and their 6 wasn't very good."

The Bears, trying to get to the Round of 16 for the 15th consecutive year, will have their hands full with Florida State. The Seminoles knocked off then-No. 1 North Carolina, 4-3, and won four straight at the end of the regular season before getting upset by Virginia Tech at the ACC Tournament.

"The reason they're ranked higher than us is because they've had a better year than we have," Knoll said. "But what you did in January and February doesn't matter much in May. They've had a heck of a season and they're going to match up with us pretty well up and down (the lineup). Everybody's going to have to be ready to play, and I know the guys are looking forward to it."

On the women's side, Joey Scrivano's 40th-ranked Bears (17-14) will open against No. 26 Wake Forest (19-9) at noon CDT Friday, also in Athens, Ga.

"It's definitely been a process trying to find positions where players can be successful and where they're comfortable," said Scrivano, whose team is making its 12th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. "I still don't feel like it's solidified, but when you're a work in progress that's just the way it is. Nothing's really stable. Right now, all we're trying to do is get it together for one match. If we can play well against Wake Forest, I like our chances."

DID YOU KNOW?
Rios says tennis ranks as the No. 2 sport in Chile behind soccer. The top Chilean pro players of all time included former world-ranked No. 1 Marcello Rios (no relation) and Olympic gold medalists Fernando Gonzales and Nicolas Massu, who were both ranked in the top 10. "So, we have some history," Rios said.