From success at Penn State to 1st pro tournament, Greensburg native climbing tennis ladder

When Loren Byers was 17, he won the USTA National Level 3 Tennis Championship in Arizona. The win helped Byers gain recognition across the country, and he eventually climbed the national ranks.

“The person I beat in my last match was pretty high ranked, so that helped out my ranking,” Byers said. “It was awesome to say I won a national level three.”

On the plane ride home, Byers sat next to KDKA’s Bob Pompeani, which was even more exciting for him. He said that Pompeani reached out to him recently on Twitter and gave him words of encouragement.

It was a huge feat for Byers to win the prestigious tournament, but it was just the beginning. Fast forward to 2022, and Byers is now set to compete in his first professional tennis tournament at a USTA Pro Circuit event.

Byers recently won the Pittsburgh Pro Circuit Wildcard Tournament in Mt. Lebanon, qualifying for his first professional tournament, set for Tuesday at the Mt. Lebanon Tennis Center.

“I had just finished my collegiate season in May, and I had taken actually a couple of weeks off just for a little mental break. I needed it, and then I trained really hard for a couple of weeks before this tournament,” Byers said. “I knew this would be my best opportunity to get into a pro event. I just buckled down and ended up winning the tournament.”

There was a lot of preparation for the tournament in a short amount of time. Byers was in the gym for two and a half hours a day and practiced on the court for another three hours.

Byers has achieved success outside of the tournament, too. He plays for Penn State and strung together a productive first season, going 17-10 in singles competition.

Byers redshirted in 2020-21, but in 2021-22, he won nine of his first 10 singles matches, which included both the fall and spring semesters.

“My freshman year I redshirted due to covid because we weren’t sure if we were going to have a season, so I just stayed home to save tuition and trained with my coaches back here,” Byers said. “For my first year, I just had the expectations of having a winning record and just trying to help out the team as best as possible.”

The Nittany Lions finished 13-14 and lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament after a lineup mishap against the No. 10 Indiana. Nonetheless, Byers won his match from the No. 4 position, defeating Vikash Singh.

While adjusting to Big Ten tennis, Byers noted there is a huge difference in competition between the college and high school levels.

“It’s a major jump. Anybody that’s out there that wants to play at this level, it just doesn’t come easy,” Byers said. “You have to put your time in just like any other sport on and off the court. You have to make sure your mind’s right and your body’s right.”

Byers ranked 46th nationally and No. 2 in the state of Pennsylvania out of high school. He was a five-star recruit. Byers went to 21st Century Cyber Charter School to help him with his travel in USTA tournaments.

In his senior season, Byers played tennis for Greensburg Salem and won his first three matches, but the rest of the season was canceled because of the pandemic.

Byers attributes a lot of his success to his father, Alex Byers, who was a professional squash and racquetball player.

“We have a little alley behind our garage, and we would make a little net out of it and play each other ever since I was 6,” Byers said. “I was always hitting with my dad in the alley and hitting balls off my entrance hall wall, so that’s how I got started.”

Byers realizes his professional dreams could not have been accomplished if it weren’t for his parents. He is forever grateful and says both have pushed him the hardest.

“I couldn’t have been wherever I am right now without my mom (Rachel) and dad. My mom gave up her job of physical therapy to raise me and make sure that I developed properly with tennis,” Byers said. “My father supported me financially. He’s the one that’s making all the money, so without that, I’d be nowhere.”

Rashid Hassan and Yussuf Hassan also have helped train Byers. Byers said his performance went to the next level after practicing with them.

Now, as he prepares for his first professional event, Byers realizes the challenges that can arise from a high-caliber tournament. He is practicing as much as he can, and he is playing in Harrisburg in a men’s open tournament.

“I’m just trying to get more tournament-ready because we talked about high school level to college level, but this college level to the pro level is a big jump,” Byers said. “I’m just grinding on the court for a couple of hours a day and off the court as well, trying to get tournament ready for this pro event.”

Byers wants to accomplish many more goals. Collegiately, he wants to improve his record and eventually wants to make it to the NCAA team and individual tournaments.

Professionally, he wants to continue to compete in pro tournaments as he looks to gain experience at the USTA Pro Circuit level.

“After college, I want to compete on the professional tour, and this next tournament will give me a taste and show me what I have to work on,” Byers said.