Men’s tennis started the 2025 fall season by sending two of their top players to the International Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championship in Tulsa, Okla.
Isak Padio ‘26 and 2025 Southern Conference Player of The Year Nemanja Stefanovic ‘27 travelled with Head Coach Eric Hayes on Thursday as the only SoCon athletes in the prestigious ITA tournament. The tournaments are held annually by the ITA, and they feature the nation's best collegiate tennis players as they compete for qualifying spots into the NCAA Individual Championships.
Padio returned Tuesday from the Davis Cup, which organizers call “The World Cup of Tennis.” He represented his home country, Togo, in a match against Egypt, losing 3-1. Padio is the first Mercer player to play in the Davis Cup, and opened the tournament as the country’s number one player.
Padio said he counts his one set victory as a career milestone. “I was just happy to play the way I was playing and get that win in Togo, especially since it’s where I used to play and practice,” he said. He attributed his win to a change in approach after Togo’s head coach, Alisama Agnamba, suggested Padio increase his aggressiveness.
He plans to carry lessons from the Davis Cup onto collegiate tennis, especially how vital it is to “attack the plan in front of you.”
Stefanovic begins his 2025 campaign after leading a historic SoCon championship run, the first in Mercer history. He and his doubles partner, Marceau Fouilhoux ‘26, topped off the Bears’ season as the 55th-ranked duo in the ITA.
Hayes pointed to the moment Stefanovic clinched their home victory against the 2024 SoCon champions, East Tennessee State University, last season. Hayes called Stefanovic their “number-one guy,” and said he played “a crazy point” to close the match. The win against ETSU solidified the three-way tie for the 2025 trophy.
Padio and Stefanovic started practice Friday to prepare for a full week of action. Pre-qualifying begins on Saturday, and the qualifying round starting Monday. The main draw will take place Sept. 24-28.
Nathaniel Jordan '29 intends to major in Journalism at Mercer and hopes to work as an investigative journalist. His hobbies include poetry, photography and home cooking, and you can probably find him around Macon shopping or walking through local parks with his wife and son.
