POCATELLO, Idaho- Idaho State men's tennis player
Ethan Lye recently returned from representing his country of Singapore at the Davis Cup in Bahrain.
Over the summer Lye competed in Davis Cup trials in Singapore where he was selected as one of four to represent his country. During the trials he said he played six matches and that he felt good about his performances.
"It felt good to present my country once again," Lye said. "It was good, fun and tiring at the same time," Lye said.
Lye embarked on a 30 hour journey to Bahrain on Oct. 14 when left Pocatello. Travel took him from Pocatello to Salt Lake to Paris before landing in Bahrain.
"I have never been to the Middle East before," Lye said. "It felt good to put on my country's colors and the flag on my chest and play for my country."
Lye and the country of Singapore played five matches and 4-1, losing to Cambodia in the finals. For nine days he was at the tennis courts from a little before 8 a.m. until around 4 p.m.
Lye played doubles and earned victories over Bahrain, Laos, Guam and Kuwait before dropping the match to Cambodia in the finals.
"It was good to get to the finals," Lye said. "I was happy with the team and my performance overall."
Lye learned a lot during his time at the Davis Cup.
"My doubles game was good when I was there," he said. "It showed how much it has improved since I have been here at Idaho State. It was good to test out my skill. At the end of the day my serve needed some work. Coming back here I now have some clarity of what I need to work on."
Lye, who first started playing tennis at the age of two, is looking forward to being back at Idaho State and applying the lessons he has learned from his time at the Davis Cup.
He is grateful for the experiences he has had to help him prepare for these moments. He first started training at the age of five with a private coach once or twice a week.
"Singapore is a tough place to pursue sports in general if you want to become a high level athlete," Lye said. "When I was 10 years old I went to Thailand to train for two years. After that we moved to Sydney, Australia when I was 12 until I graduated high school."
While playing in Australia, Lye played for a coach whose goal was to give his players the opportunity to play college tennis.
Now that Lye is ready to begin his second season in Pocatello he is excited to get strong and "give it 100 percent and see where it takes me."
