Baylor Men's Tennis Frantzen Receives ITA Arthur Ashe Award
TEMPE, Ariz. – Baylor men’s tennis junior Christopher Frantzen has been named the 2023 ITA DI Men’s Texas Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winner, announced by the association on Tuesday.
“Chris has been through a lot during his time at Baylor,” said head coach Michael Woodson. “Through the pandemic and his own health battles, he has remained steadfast in his commitment to our team and this university. The work he put in, to will himself back into a competitive role on this team last season, was inspirational. He does everything in his life with his full effort, and he always puts his teammates before himself. It has been an honor watching him come out on the other end of darker times in his life, and he has developed into someone that will undoubtedly lead this program to great success in the 2023-2024 season.”
The Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award, which dates back to 1982, is presented to men’s and women’s student-athletes who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership, as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements in ways that embody the legacy of tennis icon and humanitarian Arthur Ashe Jr. The award is given to one student-athlete from each ITA region in each division.
Frantzen was a leader in the 2022-23 season on and off the courts. He played to a 6-1 spring dual-match record in singles on courts four, five and six and was a boost for the Bears in doubles, with an even 10-10 dual-match record.
In his final semester of undergraduate studies, Frantzen put up a perfect 4.0 GPA and ended with a cumulative 3.85 GPA, boasting an Entrepreneurship and Finance double major.
The team was also given honorable mention honors for the ITA Community Service Award in the Texas Region. SMU won the award, and the Bears share honorable mention with UTSA.
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