Flames tennis player Sam Matheson turns pro

New Zealand native Sam Matheson, who became the first Liberty University men’s tennis player in program history to qualify for the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship as a junior last spring, has decided to turn professional.

Matheson finished ranked No. 99 in last spring’s final ITA National Rankings after posting an 18-2 record and being named the Flames’ first Big South Conference’s Men’s Tennis Player of the Year. He notched a program-best 28 singles victories between the fall and spring seasons.

Matheson will begin his pro career in Vietnam, where he will play in three Futures tournaments before returning to New Zealand for training and heading to Thailand for a few more Futures events. In January, he hopes to be back in his homeland to qualify for the ASB Classic in Auckland, N.Z., held two weeks before the Australian Open.

• Read the full story, including a Q and A with Matheson, at LibertyFlames.com.