player biography

meet "Bene"

“Tennis is about passion and love. I learned to love the game growing up, now it is a passion about stepping up on the court” These are the words of the professional tennis player Benedict Dorsch a.k.a. “Bene”. Bene’s love and passion for tennis started at the young age of 4. It all begun when by accident, Bene found an old wooden racquet in the basement of his house. He began hitting tennis balls for fun, and the more he hit, the more he was getting fascinated with the concept of the game.

Since the day he picked up the old wooden racquet, Bene kept on playing tennis, however he never knew how good he can actually be, and Bene never planned on playing professional tennis. After commencement from High School, he though that his playing career might even be over, due to the fact that he was not heavily recruited for college ball. The only university that offered him a scholarship was Baylor University. Not having too many options, Bene decided to go to Baylor. Accepting an athletic scholarship to Baylor was a win-win for him, not only he could continue playing tennis, but he also had numerous of friends that already went there, so he would not be lonely. During the first semester at Baylor University Bene dominated all his opponents and realized that if he puts his mind, time and dedication to the game of tennis, he could compete with virtually anyone. While at Baylor, Bene won numerous awards:

· ITA National College POY ’03, ’04, ‘05

· NCAA Singles Champion ‘05

· #1 Nationally in Singles ’04, ‘05

· Farnsworth National Senior Player of the Year’05

· All American Singles ’03, ’04, ‘05

· All American Doubles ’03, ’04, ‘05

· MVP NCAA Championship ’04, ‘05

Bene’s parents are teachers by trade, so getting a proper education was always important to Bene and his family. Thus, playing professional Tennis before getting a college diploma was completely out of the question. Bene’s parents always encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Nonetheless, getting a college education was a must. Fortunately for Benedict, he had both of the options of what he wanted to do with his life after school in the summer of 2005. Upon his commencement, Bene knew that he would either play professional tennis or run his own business, he decided to try out tennis at first, and immediately after graduation turned pro. Bene realized that he could compete at the high level in the summer of 2006 when he qualified for one of the four Grand Slams, Wimbledon. When asked, Bene definitely considers qualifying for Wimbledon as one of the greatest accomplishments for his so far short but successful career.

Bene is enjoying the career of a professional tennis player immensely. However, no matter how much he gets used to traveling and staying in hotels, the one thing he misses is his family. The Dorsch family is extremely close, and Bene makes every possible attempt to see them whenever he has couple days off during the tour.

Bene is also planning on getting married soon, and his fiancé attempts to be with him at all times. The destination for honeymoon is Mauritius. Bene always wanted to visit Mauritius, and visiting his favorite place as a newlywed sounds great to him.

Being from Germany, Bene idolized Boris Becker. But Bene was more than just a spectator of B.Becker’s game, he was a student. Every time he had a chance to watch him play, he did more than just watched it for entertainment purposes; he studied him. To this day, Bene studies Becker’s game. Some of the things he does to improve his game, are watching old films of Boris Becker, and incorporating the things that he had learned on the court against his opponents.

Bene achieved numerous awards in college and decided that he would accept nothing less then being on top. His current plans are to get to top 100 with in this year, and after that climb up the rankings and prove to himself and everyone that doubted him that he belongs as a professional tennis player.