When Greg O’Neil started playing in tennis tournaments at age 12, he got “trounced.”

O’Neil began to play tennis at a relatively old age (in tennis standards) of 11. “My parents saw tennis on TV, and they liked it,” he said. “It’s something they wanted me to get into, and they made sacrifices to give me the opportunity to play.”

O’Neil’s dad is a construction worker in West Chicago, and his mother is retired. O’Neil found success in a “rich man’s” game.

“When I started playing, it really didn’t matter if I won or lost,” O’Neil said. “I never got discouraged. As I kept on playing, I got better.”

He became good enough to play No. 1 singles at a Division I university. But that almost didn’t happen. O’Neil didn’t know if he even wanted to go to college.

At Elgin High School, O’Neil found success on the court, but only after sitting out his freshman year due to academic ineligibility.

After straightening out his classroom act, O’Neil showed what he could do on the court. He played No. 1 singles all three years and placed in the state meet every year. He finished 10th his senior year.

But O’Neil wasn’t sure what he wanted to do after his high school career. “Nobody in my family ever went to college, and I wasn’t sure if it was something I wanted to do.”

One thing O’Neil wanted to do was play tennis. He signed with Carl Neufeld, the former NIU head tennis coach, two days after the signing deadline.

“I went to him at the last minute,” O’Neil said. “(Neufeld) did the paperwork, and I was in. He liked the way I played, I guess.”

But O’Neil became a Proposition 48 casualty and sat out for a year and a half.

O’Neil made an immediate impact last year. He played No. 2 singles for the Mid-Continent Conference runners-up and developed a successful doubles formula with his partner, Erik Andersch. That duo boasts a 23-6 record so far this season. O’Neil stole the No. 1 position away from incumbent Mat Persson last month and currently owns a 14-8 singles record.

“The more I thought about it,” O’Neil said, “the more I wanted to play collegiate tennis. I wanted to improve my game.”

O’Neil wants to improve enough to play in the pro circuit. “I know it’s a lofty goal, but I want to give it a try,” he said. “I know I have a long way to go. I have to be a lot tougher mentally, and my concentration level has to be much higher. I hope to be able to improve those things over the summer and in my senior year.”

Charles Merzbacher, the current NIU coach and former touring pro, said O’Neil has some strengths. “I think his serve has potential and his shot-making ability—he comes up with some great shots. But he has a lot more improvements to make. He has to dominate the collegiate scene, first, to have a shot.”