The Tale of Two Filips
Roughly 7,555 miles separate Tennessee's Filip Apltauer from his hometown of Prague, Czech Republic. 400 miles north of Prague sits Gdansk, Poland, where Apltauer's fellow teammate, Filip Pieczonka, grew up.
Their flights to Rocky Top each took them about 12 hours, but their similarities go beyond just their name and home continent.
Both Apltauer and Pieczonka started playing tennis in 2008 at the age of four, with their fathers playing an instrumental role in their introduction to the game.
"I enjoyed it because my father was playing," Apltauer said. "He played with me sometimes and I fell in love with it."
Pieczonka, a former No. 1 Polish Junior player, also credits his father for showing him how exciting tennis is, and how hard you have to work at it to be great. His favorite player growing up was Rafael Nadal, a fellow left-handed player. Pieczonka wanted to model his game not only around the lefty's style, but his approach and fighting spirit.
From the moment they each picked up a racket, it's been all tennis, all the time. The passion that sparked at an early age never let up, and Apltauer and Pieczonka would sometimes meet as opponents throughout their years of tournament competition before ultimately committing to be on the same team at the University of Tennessee.
The two Filips combined for 13 junior doubles titles (Apltauer with seven, Pieczonka with six) and one singles title each to boast before continuing their collegiate career together at Tennessee.
It was their years of hard work that brought them across the globe to Rocky Top, but the decision to commit to UT proved to be easy.
"I think the conditions for athletes at Tennessee are amazing compared to the place where I'm from," said Apltauer. "It's unbelievable."
Pieczonka echoed similar sentiments in his decision process. He was seeking potential and opportunities at the next level, and Knoxville struck him as the place to be.
"[What is] most exciting for me is practicing. The place here is amazing," Pieczonka said. "We can have everything that we want. We just need to show up at the practices and give our all. This is the most exciting place to get better every day."
Now that their paths have crossed, the pair's similarities and on-court chemistry have become even more apparent. They earned their first collegiate doubles victories alongside one another at the Wake Forest Invitational in a 6-4 decision over the Demon Deacon's DK Suresh and Jamieson Nathan.
"We've known each other since we were playing tournaments, since we were 14 years old," Pieczonka said. "We knew each other before coming here, we have the same culture, the same look for playing tennis and we have great spirits when we play doubles together."
The two Filips understand the standard of excellence at UT, and their approach to their freshman season is simple and incremental.
“For me, the goal is the same, to win every match that I can, and to get the points for my team,” Pieczonka said.
Apltauer, Pieczonka and the rest of the Vols will commence dual match competition in January, with their first match slated for Jan. 12 against Furman at home.