Senior Lassi Ketola aces tough combo of sports, academics
By David Regan
June 8, 2003 9:00 p.m.
Class. Tennis. Study. Sleep. If you’re Lassi Ketola,
this has been your life for the past year.
There just hasn’t been time for anything else.
Ketola, a senior from the UCLA men’s tennis team, has
taken 69 units since the summer. Those units have come from 16
classes, which is a lot for anyone.
But Ketola isn’t just anyone. As an integral part of
UCLA’s run to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, Ketola
committed at least three hours per day to tennis for the past
year.
And even though he was physically and emotionally drained from
tennis, he persevered in the classroom.
“It’s 50-50, and then I have no other life,”
Ketola said of his two commitments.
“With practice 3-4 hours a day, then lifting and running,
and then I have to try to study for five classes. It’s pretty
intense sometimes, but it seems like I’ve been able to pull
it through.”
Growing up in Finland, Ketola had little idea graduating from
UCLA would become part of his life’s path. But tennis opened
the door to the United States.
Having two parents that play, he was exposed to tennis at an
early age.
“I started playing before I started walking,” Ketola
explains. “That’s what they (his parents) always
say.”
Before long, he was one of the best young players in Finland. He
was the Finnish junior champion in the Under-12, -14, -16, -18 and
-20 Championships.
Ketola took some time off from his studies in high school to
further his tennis abilities in Stockholm, Sweden. He lived in
Stockholm by himself and developed both as a player and a
person.
He found his way back to Finland and was faced with the prospect
of turning pro or going to college.
“I decided that it would be good to get an
education,” he says. “I still wanted to play tennis
while I studied, so coming to the U.S. to play college tennis was a
natural choice for me.”
UCLA has a great reputation in Europe, and it is ranked highly
in both tennis and academics.
Ketola sent a fax to head coach Billy Martin and later flew out
to meet with his future coach. They sealed the deal, and Ketola
became a Bruin.
That was four years ago. Since coming to UCLA, Ketola has seen
many things as a student and as a tennis player.
On the tennis court, he’s seen himself improve every year.
He developed into a silent team leader.
And he played arguably the best match of his collegiate career
in his final match ““ a 6-1, 6-2 walloping of Lewis Smith in
UCLA’s heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Vanderbilt at the NCAA
semifinals.
He finished his final season with a 16-4 dual match record in
singles and a 19-7 dual match record in doubles, where he teamed up
with junior Tobias Clemens.
“Lassi’s calm, and he has just a good spirit,”
Clemens said of his friend. “He also has an unbelievable
sense of humor. He doesn’t speak much, but when he’s on
target, he’s hilarious.”
“He’s so quiet, and then all of a sudden,
he’ll just shock the heck out of you,” Martin said.
For all the fine accomplishments Ketola has had on the tennis
courts, perhaps his most impressive achievement is that he will
graduate in four years.
Ketola, a political science student, declared his major late
““ well into his third year. But rather than relegating
himself to the five-year plan, he picked up the slack, and the
classes.
“I wanted to graduate,” he says. “Since I
switched my major late, I had to pick it up a little bit my last
year. I really wanted to graduate, because I know I have a chance
to go to graduate school in Finland.”
After taking three classes in the summer, four in the fall, five
in the winter and four in the spring, Ketola will indeed
graduate.
“It’s unbelievable,” Clemens said. “I
don’t know how he did that. It’s not that he gave up
tennis either. He was playing the best tennis of his career here
while taking five classes and playing tennis at least three hours a
day.”
“He saw the finish line and just went for it.”
“I’m so proud of him for graduating in four
years,” Martin said. “It’s just so hard to do
both (school and tennis). It’s really a tremendous
accomplishment.”
Ketola will now give professional tennis a try for a year or so
before attending graduate school in Finland. He plans to get a
master’s degree in political science and to eventually move
back to the United States to work.
For now, he will just enjoy his accomplishments.
“At one point, I thought I was never going to get (my
diploma),” he said. “With the language barrier, I had
to work so much to get those things done.
“It’s been pretty intense sometimes, but I’m
just so happy to be graduating.”
