MOREHEAD, Ky. - Coach
Kevin Fulton was talking about the No. 2 singles player on his Morehead State men's tennis team, Gabriel "Gabo" Ruiz.
"He's just got a huge, huge heart. And very open," Fulton said. "Will always sit down with you and ask you how you're doing. If he was an American, you'd say a good all-American boy. But he's from Bolivia, and he's just a really good kid."
Ruiz, a junior from the city of Tarija, originally wanted to turn pro rather than go to college. He had represented his country three times in continental South American tournaments, where only the top three from each country participate. But the pro route didn't work out, so he began to consider universities.
Fulton first heard about Ruiz through a contact at the University of Louisville. Fulton earned a bachelor's (2002) and master's degree (2003) from U of L and had served as a volunteer coach (2002-03).
Ruiz comes from a household of about 30 that includes parents Jorge and Elia, two siblings, his grandmother, cousins, and uncles. Ruiz calls or texts home just about every day.
Jorge has a construction company, which is why Gabo is majoring in civil construction engineering. Gabo says he's passionate about the business and "I can give a lot of my knowledge when I go back to him."
Ruiz arrived at MSU with plenty to learn about tennis, and even more to learn about language. He knew some basic English, but not enough to effectively communicate.
For the first six months or so, even ordering a meal was a struggle.
"Every time that we go to a restaurant, I wait until my teammate orders. And even though I didn't like it so much, the food that he was ordering, I was going to say 'yeah, I want the same,'" Ruiz said.
As his command of English grew, so did his ability to play tennis.
Playing at No. 6 singles as a freshman, Ruiz compiled a 13-16 record overall, 5-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. He also had a 7-5 record playing in the No. 3 doubles slot.
Last year, as a sophomore, Ruiz jumped to No. 3 singles, going 13-14 overall, 5-4 in the OVC. In doubles, his records were 13-11 and 4-2.
Now, he's up to No. 2 singles, with records of 7-9 and 5-4. Partnered with
Ritchie Kruunenberg of The Netherlands at No. 1 doubles, Ruiz is 9-2 and 6-0. Fulton calls Ruiz "one of the best 10 players in the league."
Ruiz says he always believed he had the potential to play at the top of the lineup, but early on he put too much pressure on himself. He wanted to prove he belonged higher in the lineup.
"That didn't help me my freshman and even my sophomore year," he said. "But now I got mentally stronger and learn from those mistakes. And now I feel that because my game is good enough to play at the top of the lineup when I'm feeling good mentally, I'm a strong player that can do good things."
In Bolivia, Ruiz was used to playing on clay courts. That slower surface led him to play from the back of the court. Long rallies and waiting for an opponent to make a mistake was his rule of thumb.
But his game has evolved at MSU.
"Gabriel's a fighter. He has a very good ground game, meaning his forehand and backhand are very good strokes," Fulton said. "He's becoming more of an all-court player. When he first got here, he was what tennis coaches call 'a grinder,' where he just put a lot of balls in play.
"But over the two years we've had him, this being his third year, we've really worked on making him an all-court player, someone who's willing to come forward towards the net. And a big serve. The thing that he's consistently working on his mentality."
The highly successful combination of Ruiz and Kruunenberg came about by accident in the fall of 2014 during a tournament in Chicago. Fulton paired Kruunenberg with
Nick Mercer, but the latter became ill. So Ruiz got the call.
"And they ran through the tournament," Fulton said. "I think they won 10, 11 matches in a row that fall. And it's just their chemistry. Gabriel's kind of the fire. Ritchie's a little bit more ice. And it's really stuck together.
"They're going to room together next year. They're totally different personalities, but they match well together. You get some cases with that with guard combinations in basketball. You'll get that with combinations of a shortstop and a second baseman. Their personalities fit very well together."
Next up for the Eagles (6-11, 5-4 OVC) is the OVC Tournament, beginning on Friday at 11 am ET against Jacksonville State.
"This team has the potential to win the conference, definitely," Ruiz said. "We just have to put the pieces together in every match we have from now on. Because we can beat anybody. … I think that we have to get closer as teammates from top to bottom and trust each other."
