Over the past decade, the landscape of tennis has changed drastically. What was once controlled by names such as John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, the sport has now become international, now dominated by names like Novak Djokovic, Stanislas Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal.

Evan Austin, the Fresno State men’s tennis coach, acknowledges this current trend.

“Europe has started to dominate the sport,” he said. “We just don’t have that star anymore. It’s become a bigger deal over there.”

This new movement in tennis is reflected on Fresno State’s teams as well. Both the men’s and women’s teams have only one American each. The rest of the players come from all different parts of the globe, including Scotland, India, Egypt and Chile, among others.

Due to increased popularity around the world, coaches like Austin have a more daunting task when it comes to scouting and recruiting players.

“This past summer I was over in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany and France,” said Austin. “In May, college coaches flock to Europe because there’s so many tournaments, and it’s a great place to scout players. It’s definitely a global deal.”

Austin does have tennis contacts both nationally and internationally and looks all over for his players. ­He scouts players by looking through different tournaments around the world and identifies players who are having success. After a process of emails and phone calls to find the player’s interest, Austin then goes overseas to have face-to-face visits.

Tennis isn’t as popular in America as it is in other parts of the world though.

“A lot of our top athletes play football, basketball and other sports,” Austin said.

Although there are no professional tennis stars, Fresno State has a team composed of stars of their own. Sai Kartik, a junior at Fresno State, is a former junior champion in India. Kartik is the most senior player on the team and currently plays in the No. 1 position.

“Back in India and in Europe, there are a lot more people that play tennis,” Kartik said. I think because there are more countries that are in closer proximity, it’s easier to travel around and find good competition. But college tennis doesn’t exist in universities back home, so we all come to America to continue to play.”

For some players, coming to the United States can be tougher than on others. When some come here, English is their second language, and just communicating can be challenging. For Chilean player Niko Papic, this was the case. But in his second year at Fresno State and on the tennis team, Papic has adapted well to life in another country.

“It was difficult at first, but the other guys on the team have helped make it easier,” he said.

The teammates usually live together across the street in Bulldog Village, which is visible from the tennis courts. This way, players like Kartik can help the transition into America for players like Papic. This can minimize the culture shock some players may have when coming to a drastically different country.

Although the players are here for the opportunity to play collegiate tennis, they also succeed in school while being student-athletes. Kartik is a business accounting major, and Papic is in mathematics. After graduation at Fresno State, most players go back home with a degree and sometimes have learned their second language.

The team has games most weeks and travels across the West Coast and to some mountain states too with various tournaments throughout the season.

“We all love to play. It makes this time of the year very important to us,” said Kartik.