TEMPLE WOMEN'S TENNIS NEWSLETTER

Hi everyone, I’m Jeff Brandes, and I’ve had the privilege of serving as the Director of Tennis for Temple Men’s and Women’s tennis for just over a year now. From the moment I arrived, I knew I wanted to make alumni a central part of this program’s future. You all built the legacy we carry forward, and reconnecting with you feels like an essential piece of our growth. I also know that the alumni experience hasn’t always been consistent in the past, and some of you may have felt distant from the program. My hope is to change that. This newsletter is one of the ways we’ll keep you connected, sharing team updates, alumni stories, and opportunities to engage with one another and with our current student-athletes. I’m really excited to get to know more of you personally and to create a community that everyone feels proud to be part of.

- Jeff

Can you just bring everybody up to date on your current life?

How do you think that your experience playing tennis and your experience at Temple kind of shaped your personal life and your professional life?

"Yeah, definitely. Temple gave me so many tools to shape me to who I am today, whether professionally, personally, or academically. If I have to start academically, with a job, the Resnick Center is such a beautiful place. I've actually worked there as well, as a student tutor, I've been part of everything that has been happening there, so I know their great initiatives and what they do to help students. Networking and all the events that happen there have definitely made me more social and helped me network better to get this job where I am at right now. Personally, I loved my team, especially the last year of college. We were all really close, the camaraderie was great, it helped push me to be better, and I kind of seek and want and even have that kind of support system, even now from Temple friends, from my ex-colleagues, and also, like, in real life. So personally, that has been great. Finally, when you come to, professionally, Temple had practices very early in the morning, the discipline that I learned has been important. It taught me to get up and get going, whatever the situation might be. I just know for a fact that, if my company has to count on me, they count on me, and because I know I can get up and do it as well without anything going wrong. So the discipline, the sportsmanship, even with a lot of things that are going on, like. multitasking, understanding, or, being more empathetic, all of these things, they came from my experience from Temple. It could be the coaches that… who helped push myself to reach the limit where discipline is part of my life right now, from that to all the other facilities Temple's given. "

I'm curious, do you have any favorite memories on the court or off the court at Temple?

"I do have a lot of good memories at, Temple. On the court, every match I played was very valuable to me. My first two years it flew by without even knowing, like, COVID, sure, but just other things too. And when I got injured, I tore my ACL playing tennis, and after that, every match felt like the most important thing in my life. The support I got from my teammates, from my coaches. From the athletic team, the physios and all of these people was just tremendous help. One of the most beautiful moments is, one of the trainers Matt, I used to always go to him after my knee would bulge after an important match, and we used to just sit there working on it for hours. Patrick, he was there too. And obviously, our coach back then was also, like, very supportive, both Freddie and Steve. I didn't get to work with our new coach, but yeah they were really supportive. So those are all the great memories, and of the court, also we were like a family. We would all sit together, we would joke on each other, a lot of things. The drives to the tournaments, especially. There are, I'm sure, funny pictures lying around of me sleeping with my eyes open. But, yeah, there are a lot of good memories. "

Do you follow professional tennis? Do you have any favorite players today, or are you not really a fan of professional tennis?

"Oh, no, I follow professional tennis. After I graduated, I just seek out tennis more now, because I feel like I don't get access to it as easily as before.I just recently saw the Six Kings Slam. I don't know if you're aware of it. Wow, it was a beautiful tournament, and I'm not gonna lie, I was a huge fan of Federer all my life, grew up watching him, but, like, I've never seen anything like Djokovic, and I don't think they come like that, you know? Huge fan, huge fan, I'm just, like, impressed by the ability of his body to do that at this level and age. Coming to the new talent, obviously, Sinner and Alcaraz, they have been… Amazing. It's on your toes all the time, you never know who wins, and they entertain you to the best of their ability. Alcaraz and Djokovic in the Six King Clam, Six Kings Slam was just amazing. I wish I went to the US Open, but unfortunately, I was traveling. Women's tennis has also been, like, really amazing, like Sabalenka has been doing miracles, and… Yeah, and I'm sorry, what's her name? the American girl who reached finals twice. Animisova? She's been great too, like, imagine taking that mental break and coming back that strong. Beautiful. Pure grit and perseverance, I'd say. Yeah, those are my favorite things going on as of now."

It's a bit different because you are a more recent graduate but are you still in touch with anybody from the team today, whether players coaches, and then would you have any advice to current players about how to keep in touch with their teammates?

"Yeah I would give you this advice to remember that it flies by, time does. You have to live in the moment, otherwise you never lived. So, make the best use of all the resources, all the time, all the beautiful things that come to you as a Temple athlete, and a Temple student in general. Like, just go for it. There's a networking event? Just go for it. What's the worst that can happen? Like, you don't network that much. Fine. You still showed up. I think Temple has taught me, really to show up and things will come to you. Like, even if you don't want to show up, you're not in a position to show up, or, like, you're like mentally or emotionally or even physically tired just show up. And that helped me a lot in a lot of places.. At the end of the day, they talk about this a lot, but, like, it's actually true that it's about not what you know, who you know. I think that that ideology really did help me to convince me to show up everywhere. It could be practice, to events, or showing up for your teammates."

Philadelphia, PA: The Owls opened a packed October schedule featuring three tournaments at the Cissie Leary Invitational, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. Temple started strong, with all four doubles teams earning victories on Friday. Thamara Frasser Kawaratani (featured in this month’s Owl Spotlight Interview) and Marianthi Christoforidou topped a Drexel duo 8–6. Irmak Ozturk and Tianna Zhou followed with an 8–5 win, also over Drexel. Maria Martinez and Nina Andreoni earned an 8–3 victory against Saint Joseph’s, while Aditi Vaidya and Yasmin Costa finished up the sweep with an 8–3 win over another Saint Joseph’s pair.The Owls wrapped up the weekend with a team record of 15–12, highlighted by Frasser Kawaratani’s perfect 3–0 performance in singles play.

Philadelphia, PA: The following week, the Owls returned to Penn for the ITA Regionals, held October 9–14. Irmak Ozturk and Frasser Kawaratani each advanced through the first round in straight sets, defeating opponents from Wagner and Hofstra, respectively, before falling in the second round.

In doubles, both pairs also reached the second round. Ozturk and Zhou opened with a dominant 8–2 win over Drexel, while Frasser Kawaratani and Christoforidou outlasted Villanova 8–6 in a tight first-round match.

Tulsa, OK: The Owls closed out October at the American Athletic Conference Fall Individual Championships, where three players(Marianthi Christoforidou, Tianna Zhou, and Irmak Ozturk) represented Temple on the women’s side. For Zhou, the invitation marked an especially notable milestone in her first collegiate semester. Christoforidou advanced to the second round of the main draw with a commanding 6–1, 7–5 opening win before falling in her next match. Ozturk, meanwhile, made an impressive run making the finals of the back draw.

Email: Jeffrey.brandes@temple.edu

Website: https://owlsports.com/sports/womens-tennis
Phone: 908-405-1994