Former Pilot Roman Borvanov Retires from Professional Tennis

Former University of Portland standout Roman Borvanov retired from professional tennis earlier this year after a very successful nine-year career. What started out as a way to see the world and continue to play the sport he loved for as long as possible developed into a career that achieved ATP tour rankings in singles of No. 200 and doubles of No. 182. He won nine ITF futures singles titles, had a 14-8 record in Davis Cup competition for his native country of Moldova, and played the qualifying events in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

"I encourage all of my players to try and play some pro tennis for the exact reason that Roman did," Portland men's tennis head coach Aaron Gross said. "It is a chance to see the world, try to get a few ATP points and get on the computer, and put off 'real life' for a little longer. Several players through the years have dabbled to a small degree in that world. A nine-year career is much more then 'dabbled.'

"Roman had a legitimate career, with memories that will last a lifetime. Not too many people get to say they were in the top 200 in anything in the world. Roman will always have proof that he was amongst the most elite tennis players in the world. I couldn't be more proud of him. There probably hasn't been a week that has gone by in the last nine years that I have not used Roman as motivation for current players. People out there that could say that if they had stuck to it for as long as Roman did that they could have broken through too, but the bottom line is that he was the one to stick with it, and he was rewarded for that perseverance."

During his time on tour Borvanov competed and won against former top-ranked junior in the world, Filip Peliwo, three-time NCAA singles champion, Steve Johnson, and Ivan Dodig, who has been ranked as high as No. 37 in the world.

Borvanov lost 7-6 in the third set to former top 25 player Thomas Bellucci, as well as USA veteran Donald Young. He has also competed against Kei Nishikori, Dimitri Tursonov, Igor Andreev, Dennis Istomin, and Alex Bogomolov. Borvanov had the good fortune of training with Roger Federer during one of his five qualifying appearances at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.
 
"Spending three years at Portland and being on the tennis team was an unforgettable learning experience," Borvanov said. "Aaron's coaching helped turn me into a warrior. I felt like I had a mental edge over the competition from the lessons that I learned. Now that I am starting a coaching career, I am taking those lessons from Aaron and helping my students become not only good tennis players and tough competitors, but also good human beings."

Borvanov joined the Pilots in the fall of 2002 and was named team MVP all three seasons. He was named All-West Coast Conference First Team in singles in 2005 and honorable mention in 2004. Borvanov posted a 19-2 singles record as a senior in 2005 and won his final seven dual singles matches to conclude his career. He collected a total of 53 singles and 37 doubles wins in three years on The Bluff.

Borvanov used Portland as his home base up until 2011 and has since moved to Miami, Fla. He is embarking on his own coaching career and was recently engaged.

"Coaching will be a nice transition into regular life for Roman," Gross said. "It is always tough for a pro athlete who has had a long career to find a new identity beyond the court. Roman has been going at it for 35 weeks a year for the last nine years. It is tough to just turn off the single-minded, competitiveness that a world class athlete needs. But I think the best coaches are guys like Roman, guys that have had to work for everything that they achieved. Roman has lived nearly every experience a person can have in tennis and the wisdom that he has gained from those experiences will translate well into anything he does in life."