University Southern California Trojans
USC Tennis Reloads With New Signings
January 07, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 7, 2011
In the last signing period, USC men's tennis picked up three new student-athletes to join the successful Trojan program. Head coach Peter Smith has added one player for the coming spring 2011 season, and two newcomers for the following season. Emilio Gomez joins this year's Trojan roster, and Yannick Hanfmann and Eric Johnson are all signed in to start in 2011-12.
"We are so pleased with these additions," Smith said of his latest national letter of intent signees. "We set the bar high and these players are going to come in carry the tradition of excellence and character that we expect from our student-athletes. These players signify that our recent success can be continued with hard work."
Emilio Gomez is all set to kick off his Trojan career as soon as he hit the courts at Marks Stadium. A January 2011 enrollee, Gomez comes to USC from Guayaquil, Ecuador. His father, Andres, had planned to attend USC back when George Toley was the coach before opting to pursue a pro career in which he won the 1990 French Open singles title and the 1986 and 1988 French Open doubles titles.
Emilio has been successful in South America, ranking as high as No. 573 in singles and No. 310 doubles on the ATP tour. and winning Futures singles and doubles titles in Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru and Brazil, as well as a Challenger doubles title in his hometown of Guayaquil. As a junior, Gomez has ranked as high as No. 54 in the junior world rankings and won five ITF titles in six tournaments, winning 31 of 32 matches in that stretch, including the 2nd Junior Chile Open, Torneo Internacional de Chile, Copa Mundo Maya of Guatemala, Copa Cristal of El Salvador and Copa Cariari of Costa Rica.
"His father Andres told me that he is happy that one of his sons can now come to USC," Smith said. "Emilio has a lot of success in the juniors and ATP tournaments in singles and doubles. We look for him to come and become a major part of our team this season."
For the 2011-12 season to come, the addition of Yannick Hanfmann and Eric Johnson is a key influx of talent to the Trojan roster. A native of Germany, Hanfmann was ranked No. 46 in the German men's open rankings, and he is the youngest and only player not on the ATP tour to be ranked in the top-50 German men's rankings. He holds an ATP world singles ranking of No. 862, and reached the semifinals of last October's Germany 517 Futures tournament.
"We are very lucky to have Yannick's commitment," Smith said. "He is one of the rising stars in Germany. His father attended university in Los Angeles so this is not such an unnatural step for Yannick. We feel Yannick can be a star at SC and can't wait to be a part of his development."
Northern California product Eric Johnson also will enter USC with a pile of experience to add to the Trojan lineup. Hailing from San Jose, Calif., Johnson was the top-ranked player in the Northern California 18s and 16s boys singles divisions. Ranked No. 10 in the boys 18s national singles rankings, Johnson won five singles titles in 2010 -- Copper Bowl, Hawaii National Open, Northern California 18s Sectional Championships, Canadian Saville ITF and USTA Winter Nationals -- and doubles titles at the Evert ITF and USTA Winter Nationals. Most recently, Johnson won his first Super National title as he reigned supreme in singles and doubles at the Dec. 27-Jan. 1 USC Winter Super National Championships in Phoenix, Ariz.
"Eric is making us look pretty smart by going out and winning the US Winter National Championships in January," Smith said. "Eric wanted nothing more than to be a Trojan, and with his recent play is showing is that he is going to be a force on our team."
