“Tennis is a boring sport, especially when you watch it on television. Soccer is way better.”

To say junior tennis player Adam Holmstrom is humble would be an understatement.

“In a few words, I would say quietly competitive, very composed,” said Head Coach Danny Westerman about Holsmtrom’s performance.

If you asked around campus this week, few people would know that Holmstrom is currently ranked as the No. 18 singles player in the country. Also few would know that Holmstrom will begin competing in the NCAA Individual Championships starting tomorrow as a top-16 seed, a first in DU history.

Holmstrom is so upcoming on the NCAA tennis scene that the NCAA Web site has misspelled his last name as “Homstrom.”

The Eskilstuna, Sweden native may not be well-known on campus, but he has certainly made a name for himself on the college tennis circuit this year.

“When I got here I told myself I think I am good enough to beat everyone, but I can also lose to anyone because there is such a high standard here,” observed Holmstrom. “Before every match I try to be prepared. My goal is to win every match.”

That’s a goal that started back at the age of four in Sweden when Holmstrom lived less than 200 meters from a court and his father would take him to practice on a daily basis. With no real high school sports program like we have in the United States, Holmstrom joined a club to begin his tennis career.

Holmstrom was originally recruited and signed a letter of intent to play tennis at Texas Christian University (TCU), but things fell threw and the coach hooked him up with former DU coach Geoff Young. Young and former DU tennis player and Swedish native Viktor Zetterholm recruited Holmstrom and the rest is history.

Holmstrom took it all in stride. “It is a typical Swedish thing actually, if you are not good enough to make it on tour it is always a backup to go to college and get an education and practice to get better.”

In Holmstrom’s freshman season he finished with an impressive 23-6 record as the No. 1 singles player for DU, advancing to the NCAA championships. That same year he had an 11-6 doubles record with partner Niklas Persson. Last year’s sophomore campaign brought more success for the 6-feet- 4-inch wiry athlete as he set a Denver record for wins with a 28-6 mark and was ranked as high as 28th nationally.

This season, the hard work from close to 20 years of playing tennis paid off as the recently-turned 23 year-old finished the season with an 18-1 dual record and 32-5 overall mark. Holmstrom also achieved the highest ranking (No. 17) that any Pioneer has ever achieved nationally. Overall in three seasons, Holmstrom has compiled an 83-17 singles mark. Yes, you guessed it: the 83 total wins are yet another DU record, which Holmstrom will add to next season.

Holmstrom will bring his numerous DU records, All-American selections and Pioneer “Male Athlete of the Year” award to the NCAA singles championships.

“I guess it is a good thing we don’t have that back in Sweden. It is a good thing that not too many people are getting All-American,” said Holmstrom about receiving the All-American award.

“I don’t know who I am even playing so it is hard to get a real game plan, but just go out there and play my game.”

The match-ups for the 64-person field were to be announced today, unlike other sports where teams have days and weeks to prepare for a post-season match, Holmstrom barely has one day. As the Swedish native prepares for his first match-up he knows not to look too far ahead.

“It is stupid to look so far ahead, I don’t think I am good enough to look at the finals so far. I am happy if I win one match to start with and then take it from there.”

Head Coach Westerman believes Holmstrom will need to win more than just one match to make it a successful trip. “He made it as a freshman and lost first round, so I think anything past that is good. I think we would be lying if we said he would be happy going home with anything less than he was seeded to do. Honestly, anyone can beat anyone on a given day; I don’t think he will be happy losing to anybody.”

No matter what happens this week in Athens, Ga., the DU record holder will still have one more season to accomplish more feats and then possibly embark on a professional career.

“I have one more year and then we will see how the progress will go. If I am good enough to make it on tour I will do that or now that I have an education I can go back to Sweden and start working, it is a win-win situation,” said Holmstrom.

As for the present, not many people in the country, NCAA Committee or school, know about the Swedish tennis sensation, but that doesn’t matter to him, because he is just taking it one match at a time.

“If he is playing his best tennis, he can beat anybody in the country and hopefully that comes together next week,” said Head Coach Westerman.