Wallner’s Leadership Embodies the Tennessee Culture
Preston Jones
What can be said of a leader?
They are passionate, enthusiastic and energizing.
They can adapt, inspire and mentor.
And they understand how to be a steady, supportive voice.
Tennessee men’s tennis graduate student Mark Wallner has been all of the above during his three years on Rocky Top.
Wallner’s bolstering voice on and off court for the Vols has been both consistent and unmistakable. Those qualities have certainly not gone unnoticed by his teammates, coaches and fans alike.
“I would love for them to look back and just say, ‘He was a great teammate and great person. I wouldn’t really care about them saying, ‘He won that match,’ or ‘He lost that match.’ Even if it was about positive wins, I would rather them say that I was a great teammate, great friend and always looked out for the team. If they said something like, ‘I was always able to go to him with any problem,’ that would mean a lot.”
During his final collegiate season in 2021-22, Wallner’s game was primarily centered around the doubles courts, where he brought Tennessee incredible stability at the No. 3 spot and acted as a ‘glue guy’ of sorts by providing leadership as one of two fifth-year seniors on the roster.
Wallner won each of his first 12 doubles matches when paired with Johannus Monday in the dual season, as the duo prided themselves on ‘finding a way’ and finished the spring with a 14-2 record. They also tallied eight doubles clinches, including the doubles clinch in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals against Baylor.
In Seattle at the ITA Indoor National Championship, Wallner and Monday earned four victories in as many days to help the Vols collect three wins in the Emerald City. The duo was later named to the All-Tournament Team following their unblemished weekend.
My role was probably 30 minutes of just full-on energy on the court. Everyone knows how tiring it is when you give full energy for 30 minutes. Once I’m off the court, I just try to give as much energy as I could from outside so the guys on court could focus more on their games and I could provide the energy. There’s a team aspect to it there.
Wallner was 20-8 in doubles matches in 2022 and logged 58 total doubles victories—40 in dual seasons—since arriving on Rocky Top for the 2019-20 season.
“I think it sometimes was even a bit of a tough role, just playing doubles and not always playing singles—especially if you try to be in a leadership role,” Wallner said. “I think I found the key to my role is the energy that I bring to the guys, taking practice very seriously and motivating guys in the weight room, where I am able to lead since I’m one of the older guys. I try to lead with my strengths where I can and bring a lot of energy on and off the court.”
Wallner was introduced to the game of tennis at an early age, and credits his parents for their early support of his career.
“I was first introduced to tennis at the age of four,” Wallner said. “My friend and I saw a tennis match on TV, so I came home and asked my mom if I could play. My birthday was coming up, so she gave me a tennis racquet and 10 lessons for the summer as a birthday gift. I did the 10 lessons a summer for a few years, before taking it a bit more seriously and practiced once or twice a week and also in the winter when I was eight or nine.”
Although Wallner picked up many leadership skills through his time playing tennis growing up, he also developed those competencies regarding team skills as a result of his involvement in soccer.
“I started when I was 3 years old and stopped when I decided to take tennis more seriously at the age of 13," Wallner said. “I played 10 years of soccer and was captain of the team. Playing a team sport for 10 years early in my life, I learned about the whole sense of competing as a team, succeeding as a team and even losing as a team.
“Going to IMG Academy in Florida and then going to college where it’s more team-based and you have people around you who support you, want the best for you and are a part of your success, those lessons kind of carried over from what I learned playing soccer.”
Often referred to as Tennessee’s ‘brick wall,’ Wallner has been one of several over the past few seasons to serve as the program’s brick and mortar.
Wallner didn’t start his career at Tennessee, though. He came to Rocky Top by way of Temple University, craving to take his game to the next level.
“I had a good gut feeling about Tennessee and went with my gut,” Wallner said. “When I arrived here, I got to meet Woody (head coach Chris Woodruff) and got to know him better. He obviously helped my game tremendously. He is very knowledgeable, saw the strengths and weaknesses in my game and tried to model my game after the strengths, which I think is really important."
He helped me work on certain aspects of my game, especially my serve, moving forward into the court and the volleying, which then helped me in the doubles game a lot.
When Wallner first arrived in Knoxville, he experienced a full fall slate with the Vols, before the notorious spring of 2020 and cancelation of the dual season put a wrinkle in his transition to Tennessee.
“Prior to the shutdown, I did get to see the non-conference season with the team, including the ITA Kickoff Weekend," Wallner said. "I think I got a pretty good insight into how the team operates. If I had to take a positive away from the season being cut short, I think it’s that it kind of gave me a break, since it was a pretty big transition from Temple to Tennessee. I was able to experience it, understanding that the most important part of the season is the SEC Tournament and postseason at NCAAs. I did get to experience how they compete, but not for the full length. The biggest positive was just getting that exposure.”
During that uncertain COVID-19 hiatus from competition, Wallner traveled back home to Germany, where he overcame some adversity and soon returned to practicing.
“I went back home and I actually got mono (mononucleosis) one or two weeks after I got home, so I wasn’t able to do any physical activity for six to eight weeks," Wallner said. "The courts were closed anyways, but as soon as courts opened up I was basically back to being healthy and I just started working out on my own. I would also meet up with Luca (Wiedenmann) and we did some practice sessions at my house with workouts. That’s how I spent the COVID-19 season.”
Wallner returned to the States and posted 26 doubles wins (26-9), including an 18-8 mark (8-2 SEC) in the 2021 dual season in which Tennessee captured the SEC Tournament Championship.
“Winning the SEC Tournament in 2021 was probably the most special thing," Wallner said. "It was a great team effort in the way it went down. Winning the SEC was great, but even smaller wins and other moments stand out. If it was a tight 4-3 win and a freshman or newcomer this year like Shunsuke (Mitsui) or Angel (Diaz) clinched, that meant a lot. Seeing them step up in a big moment like that was great.”
It’s that caring mentality and desire for his teammates to succeed that has aided Wallner in his role as a leader for the Orange and White.
As far as life after tennis, Wallner looks to follow in his father’s footsteps in the real estate business, saying that his father has served as one of his greatest inspirations.
“I definitely want to play tennis and see how far that takes me,” Wallner said. “After tennis, I want to go into real estate in Germany and kind of follow in my father’s footsteps. I’ve always been interested in what he does for work and would love to get a chance to work with him someday. My father is an example for me. What he’s done and what he’s doing in life is really successful and great. Getting the chance to work with him would be amazing.”
Someone who, when asked, will describe himself as energetic, aggressive and fair on the court and calm, humble and appreciative off of it, Wallner disallows himself to be limited by self-created barriers.
If you think you’ve reached your limit, you really haven’t reached it yet. The limits you set are set by your mentality. If you are open-minded and don’t give yourself a limit, you can really achieve whatever you want. The lesson can be applied on the tennis court, in conditioning and weight sessions. I’ve learned that you really set your own limits. If you don’t set any limits, you can go as far as you want.
That mantra has been a significant ingredient in Wallner’s mentality and success during his career and since arriving in Knoxville.
In regard to leadership within and even outside the tennis realm, Wallner has forever infused that key principle into the Vol tennis program: If you don’t set any limits, you can go as far as you want.
