PROFILE: Marc Blekhman ’25, Lehigh’s Men’s Tennis

The Illinois native briefly quit tennis in middle school before returning to the court and excelling in high school and at Lehigh.

Stephen Gross

Stephanie Veto

March 21, 2023

Athletics

As a first-year player at Lehigh, Marc Blekhman ’25 notched eight singles wins and a team-high 13 doubles victories, finishing the season with six straight doubles wins in league play with partner Jeremy Learner. Blekhman’s performance earned the Illinois native Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors, becoming the first Mountain Hawk to ever win the award in tennis. He was also named Second Team All-Patriot League and received Patriot League Academic Honor Roll honors.

Major: Finance, but I'm looking to double major in finance and business information systems.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM JOB?

A world-class chef. I started cooking lately so I might have to put my tennis on the back burner.

WHAT GOT YOU STARTED IN TENNIS?

My dad wanted me to play a sport that wasn’t as injury prone as the one he played—he played hockey semi-professionally, and he has a lot of injuries and scars. He got me into tennis and I ended up liking the social aspect when I would go and play with friends. I got started from a young age, around 5 or 6. I didn't take it seriously until I was around 14 or 15 when one of my coaches that I was working with was like, ‘You know you have an opportunity to play college tennis if you really wanted?’ I started taking it seriously, and the rest is history.

Marc Blekhman ’25 seen through his tennis racket

Marc Blekhman '25 earned Patriot League Rookie of the Year honors his first year at Lehigh, becoming the first Mountain Hawk to ever win the award in tennis.

YOU BRIEFLY QUIT TENNIS?

I did. I was like 13. I played soccer in eighth grade when I didn't want to play tennis. At that time I was really struggling when I was playing tournaments. I just didn't like the losing aspect of it, which was very tough on me mentally. My confidence would go down. I'd put it all on myself instead of just treating it like a game. I was still young, and I was putting way too much pressure on myself. … After a year I got back into tennis. That time helped me a lot and remembering that it is just a sport and I'm supposed to have fun no matter what.

WHAT’S THE MOST CHALLENGING THING ABOUT TENNIS?

It's definitely the pressure. I mean, that comes with any sport where it's just you out there—any gladiator sport, boxing or wrestling, when you're out there all yourself and no one's there to help you. In college, you have your coach there too, when he comes over and tries to give you some advice. But as a player, you put a lot of stress, a lot of strain and a lot of pressure on yourself mentally. And when you don't achieve the things that you want to achieve, it's tough.

DID YOU PLAY SPORTS OTHER THAN SOCCER AND TENNIS?

I was always a fan of basketball. I loved watching the Bulls. I'm from Chicago. So going downtown to the United Center, that was fun. But it's just soccer and tennis.

I GUESS YOU WERE A LITTLE YOUNG FOR THE BULLS’ DYNASTY IN THE ’90s?

Yeah, my dad would always talk about Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. But Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, those are my favorite players.

YOU’RE NOT A HOCKEY FAN EVEN THOUGH YOUR DAD PLAYED?

Not really. I never really watched hockey much. Our home team was doing really well at one point, the Blackhawks. I remember watching all the games with my dad then, but I always liked soccer and tennis more for some reason.

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU INVOLVED IN ON CAMPUS?

I'm a member of [the student-athlete group] T.I.D.E. (Tackling Inclusion, Diversity and Equity). We meet once a week on Thursdays and it's nice to be part of something on campus with other student athletes who aren't in my sport.

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU WERE NAMED 2022 PATRIOT LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR?

I first found out that I was nominated on our Lehigh men’s tennis Instagram page, and I ended up looking at the Patriot League awards and my name was on there. I didn't think I would be the first one in Lehigh tennis history to ever receive it too, which was a crazier thing for me. But that was one of the main goals, actually, that I really wanted to focus on last year. I remember telling my sophomore teammates at the time, ‘You know, I think I can really do it. I think I can win Rookie of the Year.’ [With] all that hard work and all of the experiences, all the learning that I did throughout my crazy first year, to end up achieving that at the end was something awesome that I truly will always remember.

Marc Blekhman ’25 first got into tennis because his dad wanted him to play a sport that wasn’t as injury prone as the one he played—hockey.

HOW MUCH DOES LEHIGH’S NEW HEAD COACH IMPACT YOU?

There's a lot of question marks at the start of the season whenever you have a new coach. But the first couple weeks I knew that Coach [Craig Schwartz] and I already had a great relationship, and we clicked together really well off the court. And … I'm able to talk to him a lot on the court, even when I'm laser focused. I know he has great advice. He has a lot of professional experience himself, and it's always nice to have that in your corner whenever there's tough situations.

AS A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR YOU WERE AN ILLINOIS STATE QUARTERFINALIST IN TENNIS. IS THAT YOUR PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENT OR PATRIOT LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR?

It would definitely be Patriot League Rookie of the Year, but one of the best times of my life was playing in high school my senior year and being able to make the quarterfinals. It was awesome. Being able to play in front of everybody and representing my school, as team captain too, was a cool feeling for me.

YOU’RE ALSO A TENNIS INSTRUCTOR?

Yeah, my [personal] coach works at a tennis center in Arlington Heights [in Illinois], about 20 minutes from where I live, and the summer before my freshman year he offered me a coaching job. [I did it again] last summer. It was nice because I would finish up coaching and then he would always have an hour or an hour and a half where we would be able to work on my game. … I always have another hitting partner with me, and it was awesome being able to have the best of both worlds—being able to work and be productive over the summer and then also get better for this year and keep training.

WHO ARE YOU COACHING?

Once in a while he would ask me to teach an adult class, but I would mainly be teaching younger kids from the ages of 10 to maybe 16, 17 where they're really trying to play tournaments. [My instructor] always told me, ‘They're trying to get to the same position that you are in,’ and he said that my advice means a lot to them.

WHO HAS BEEN YOUR BEST MENTOR?

Probably my stepdad. He taught me a lot about how life works. Sometimes things don't go your way, but he was always that person in my corner that I would go to. And when things were going well, I would always go to him [too]. He's an inspiration for me. He was one of the people that really supported my tennis goals. Even though I started very late, he was always so supportive.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THE LEHIGH MEN’S TENNIS PROGRAM?

Camaraderie. We have a very small team compared to most of the other teams on campus so we become close and we share all of the experiences that we have on a deeper level. … We're always doing stuff together, we're always hanging out grabbing food or going places.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT LEHIGH AS A UNIVERSITY?

Definitely the resources that you have. As a student athlete, I'm able to go to such a prestigious university and have a very high level of education and also just play the sport that I love. … It's also not too big of a school either. So you become very close with the people that you meet and you always see people that you know. It's an awesome feeling.