Sweden rules the world in tennis today, and fittingly, a Swede is ruling NIU men’s tennis.

Junior Mats Persson has firmly established himself as the No. 1 NIU tennis player from the beginning of the year and has performed to a 20-12 mark heading into the AMCU tourney. Persson’s record is the best among NIU players.

Persson came to NIU two years ago on a scholarship from former coach Carl Neufeld. Persson sent letters to the former coach who took a look at him and gave him a scholarship to play tennis. Persson found out about NIU from his sister Kerstin, who was attending Northwestern.

Persson, born in Linkoping, Sweden, took up tennis when he was 8 years old. He said his father was a member of a tennis club and got him started in the sport.

“I decided to play tennis because I liked it best. In Sweden we didn’t have high school sports, everything was club. Tennis is so big in Sweden we could hardly get courts, so I only practiced two or three times a week,” Persson said.

Persson was successful as a club player, finishing in the top 10 of his state when he was 18. After high school, Persson went on to the Swedish military, which is required of all young Swedes. Persson served the required two-years before coming to NIU.

“In Sweden, everyone had to do it. I’ve made some good friends in the army, but it got really bad at times. We had to go in the woods for a long time. I guess we had to learn discipline. You have no choices in the military, you have to what you’re told,” Persson said.

Persson said he had time to keep up his tennis skills while he was in the Swedish army. “One of my captains was a big tennis fan so he got the others to do some stupid work and I went to play tennis with him,” Persson said.

Persson said being the top dog of NIU tennis has not added any pressure on him; in fact, he feels more comfortable. “When I played No. 4 last year, I felt that I had to win every match. I think playing No. 1 has been very good for me, because I can relax and I don’t have to win every match because I’m playing much better players, so it’s good for me.

“When I played No. 4, I could just hit the ball back and let my opponent make the mistakes, but you can’t just hit the ball back at No. 1.”

Persson, like most Swedes, grew up playing on red clay. Red clay is a very slow surface which requires the players to play a patient baseline game in order to be successful. He considers his strength to be his baseline game, but said he has to play aggressively in order to be more successful at the No. 1 position.

“The opponents force you to make the shots and that has helped me be more aggressive. My volleys have gotten a lot better and my passings shots has gotten much better. Passing shots have to be good, because when they come up to the net, you have to pass him or you’ll lose.”

Charles Merzbacher, head tennis coach, said his No. 1 player has progressed the way he wanted him to. “I think Mats is going to be one of the top players in the Midwest next year. His strength is his mind. He’s mentally tough and very competitive. You can tell his competitiveness, because when we play and he’s losing, he gets mad.”

In their last match, Persson took his coach, the former touring pro, to a 7-6 loss. “He was really mad in that set,” Merzbacher said. “Mats is a typical Swede. He’s quiet and he’s a leader by example. He works extremely hard.”

Persson said that he’s “very glad I got the opportunity to go to school and play tennis here. Right now my goal is for our team to do well at the AMCU and just improve my game next year and just help the team. It doesn’t matter if I play No. 1 or No. 2 as long as I feel I have improved my game.”

For his long term plan, Persson said he likes the U.S. very much, but said he will most likely settle down in Sweden.