Greensburg native Loren Byers building pro ranking points as he works toward goal of big time

For the past 14 years, Greensburg native Loren Byers has been polishing his tennis game. His goal — has been since he was 7 years old — is to play with the big boys on the ATP.

Over the past 12 months, Byers, who will be 22 in November, has been taking small steps in that direction. Byers is entering his second year of playing professional tournaments, and he has been building ranking points as he attempts to follow the likes of Alison Riske (Peters Township) and Bjorn Fratangelo (Plum) to the upper echelon of pro tennis.

According to the ATP Tour website, Byers, a rising senior at Penn State, is ranked No. 1,670 in the world. In pro tournaments this summer — the NCAA permits tennis players to earn up to $10,000 in a calendar year — he has made $414.

Modest numbers, to be sure. But Byers is well aware of the long journey that lies ahead.

“I keep putting myself in these opportunities to keep pushing forward,” he said. “I’m going to try to play professional and improve my ranking, and we’ll take it how it comes.”

Byers’ most recent event took place at Mt. Lebanon Tennis Center. After winning a wild-card tournament to get into the main draw, Byers was defeated in the opening round by Argentinian Ignacio Monzon, who has been ranked as high as 217 in the world.

Byers got down 4-0 in the first set — “I was completely nervous,” he said — before battling to within 4-3. He ended up dropping the final two games and then lost 6-2 in the second set. He and doubles partner Connor Bruce made the Round of 16 in the same tournament.

The hometown event was part of what will be a busy few months for Byers. His itinerary includes pro events in South Bend, Ind.; Wheeling, W.Va.; Columbus, Ohio; Ithaca, N.Y., and Louisville. And, in many cases, because he is still building his ranking, Byers has to play in a qualifying tournament just to get into the main draw.

The main events are where players earn ranking points, which are awarded based on how far they advance.

Later this month, he will head back to Penn State to take part in the Nittany Lions’ fall season. Byers plays mostly No. 1 and 2 singles at Penn State, and he said college tournaments go a long way to helping him polish his game for the pro ranks.

“It’s been monumental in my game,” he said, noting he is not sure if he will use his final year of eligibility in 2024-25. “Week in and week out, you’re always playing the best players at pretty much all Power 5 schools. I really think the college atmosphere and the coaches are really building these players to play professionally.

“I feel that the game is pretty close between the high-level college and the 300- to 400-level (ranking) in the world. … The high-level college players can completely play at the professional level now.”

Away from competition, Byers trains up to six hours per day: three to four hours of on-court work, up to two hours of gym work and 30 to 45 minutes of stretching. He is coached by Rashid Hassan, who played on Zimbabwe’s 1992 Davis Cup team, at Murrysville Racquet Club.

“Loren, you could say he’s a top 500, top 600 tennis player in the world right now. Physically,” Hassan said. “But being on the tour is not just the physical. It’s just about day in, day out doing the grind. … The grind is a lot more different than the lifestyle he is living now. That’s going to be the ‘tell’ when that occurs.

“What Loren has, he has power on both the forehand and the backhand and the serve and he’s extremely talented with his hands, so he brings that factor to it, which is why I think he can really play at this level and compete with the top guys in the world.”

Hassan, Byers said, has encouraged him to play aggressively. He said he believes his forehand and backhand are equally effective, but he is working on finishing points at the net and being more consistent on his serve.

Those skills, ultimately, will help him put away more critical points in pro events. That, he said, is a big key to success.

“What I have noticed from the top level players in these (pro) tournaments is you really understand the importance of, when you are up in a situation, whether it’s to break their serve or go ahead in a game, you have to capitalize on it,” Byers said. “You can’t let them get back into the match because they are so polished and have been in that situation before and are able to execute.

“You really have to take the bull by the horns and capitalize on those moments because there aren’t that many in a match.”

At some point, Byers could reach a level where he can serve, volley and play at the net as well as anyone. He could have all the strokes in his arsenal. Many professional-level players reach that stage in their development.

So what is the dividing line between the Federers and Djokovics of the world from everyone else? Byers said it is the ability to sustain their level.

“Those players, there is no dropoff,” he said. “They are able to do that for three or four hours in a row in match after match after match, week after week and take care of their bodies. How they are able to perform at that high of a level for an extended period of time is what separates them from the lower-level professionals.”

That and, Hassan said, having the fortitude to cope with the lifestyle that will come with trying to “make it”: traveling and living on a shoe-string budget in hopes of accumulating more points and bigger paydays on the way up the ladder.

The ATP Tour seems light years away. But now that Byers has begun to earn ranking points, it’s just a wee bit closer.

Hassan, for one, is pulling for Byers to succeed and become a truly Pittsburgh pro.

“A lot of the Allie Riskes and Bjorn Fratangelos … they left when they were 12 years old and moved out of state to Florida or South Carolina,” Hassan said. “He is the only home-grown, just straight Pittsburgh guy.

“He didn’t start tennis when they started tennis. He started tennis much later. His growth has been exponential. Now we’ll see where he ends up going.”