Minium: ODU Men's Tennis Player Aryan Saleh Draws Inspiration from His Parents, Who Immigrated to Germany
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Aryan Saleh was soaked with sweat as he pounded serve after serve across the net on the outdoor courts at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
It was a day off for the Old Dominion men’s tennis team, but to Saleh, a sophomore from Eschborn, Germany, there is no such thing as a day off.
When he saw Saleh, ODU Men’s Tennis Coach Dominik Mueller walked over to him and gently told him to take the rest of the day off.
“Ary, you’re tired,” he told Saleh. “Go home and take a break.”
“He’s the hardest-working kid on the team,” added Mueller, whose Monarchs won their third consecutive Sun Belt Conference title this past weekend in Rome, Georgia.
“He always comes to practice an hour early and hits extra after practice. He would stay on the court six hours at a time if we allowed him to.
“Sometimes, we have to force him to dial it back a bit.”
Yes, Germans are known for their work ethic, but that’s not what drives Saleh.
His parents were both immigrants to Germany. He father, Abdullah, came from Iran and his mother, Ramona, from Romania.
Both escaped oppressive, dictatorial governments in their home countries and had to work hard to scratch out a living in Germany. When they immigrated, neither spoke German, and it’s difficult to find work when you don’t speak the language.
“He knows his parents had a tough upbringing,” Mueller said. “They worked hard to provide him a better childhood than they had.
“He never considered himself as having grown up poor or with a tough life. But he understands his parents did.
“That’s why he has a chip on his shoulder.”
After struggling when they came to Germany, his parents are now both successful.
His father is a tennis pro. His mother studied medicine in Romania but because her credentials weren’t recognized in Germany, she works as a nurse.
"My father had a really difficult life," Saleh said. "He was from a poor family.
“His dad died when he was 19 and he had six brothers and a sister. They were a poor family.”
Abdullah worked as a ball boy at a local tennis center in Iran "just to earn some money for the family." But eventually, it led to him becoming a pretty fair player – he represented Iran in some international tournaments.
Two of his brothers played in the Davis Cup, including one who played at Wimbledon.
His mother was raised in Arad, Romania, located near the Hungarian border, where she grew up on a small farm. “Her family was also very poor,” he said.
They met at a tennis center where Abdullah was teaching – Ramona was working at the tennis center as a housecleaner. “She didn’t have much money,” Saleh said.
With all of the talk of racial divisiveness in Europe, Saleh said he experienced very little. "My parents, I'm sure, faced more," he said. "I was born in Germany and don't speak with an accent.
"I received a lot of support in Germany.”
Saleh is fluent in both Persian and Romanian, and his English is also very good. His family often visits relatives in Romania. An only son, he is immensely close to his parents, who he will visit next month once tennis is done.
“I’m so grateful for everything my parents have done for me,” he said. “They sacrificed so much to make sure I’ve had a good life.”
Mueller hails from Frankfurt, Germany, not far away from Saleh’s hometown of Eschborn, but did not know of Saleh until he heard about him from Marc Lux, the coach at William Carey University, an NAIA school in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Lux reached out to ODU student assistant Oliver Tobisch, who grew up just south of Frankfurt in Roedermark, Germany, and to Mueller.
“He respected Ary and his dad so much, he wanted Ary to find the best possible school,” Mueller said.
Saleh, a sophomore, isn’t yet a superstar – he’s 19-10 at No. 6 singles for the Monarchs – but plays with as much passion as he shows in practice. He defeated Georgia Southern's Matthew Mitchell, 6-1, 6-1, on Sunday to pull ODU within one point of clinching the Sun Belt title.
Saleh is 5-foot-10 and although he’s in superb shape, doesn’t overwhelm opponents physically.
“I’ve never really been the guy who everybody looks at and says, yeah,” Saleh said. “I’m not the tallest guy, I don’t have the biggest forehand, not the biggest serve and my game isn’t too spectacular.
“But I play with a lot of fighting spirit. I play with a lot of heart.
“I kind of always fought for everything I have, and I have big dreams.”
Big dreams indeed. He hopes to return to Europe and play professionally.
“My parents, they had difficult lives before they came to Germany. And they just instilled in me the belief that you have to work for everything you want in life. And that’s what I want, to play professionally. It’s what I’ve wanted since I was four years old.”
Moving across the Atlantic Ocean to go to college was a big step for Saleh, but he said having a coach and assistant coach who are German made it easier. And he said the ODU community has been a huge help.
ODU is home to a large international student body, including dozens of international student athletes.
“People are different here than in Germany,” he said. “Sometimes I feel more welcome here than I am at home.”
Saleh rooms with brothers and teammateas Codie and Connor Van Schalkwyk, who are from Namibia. “We are all very close on this team.
“I heard such great things about coach Mueller from my friends in Germany. He doesn’t talk about it a lot but he was a great player.
“So, I wanted to play for him. But when I came here, and met the guys on the team, it felt like a family. I knew this is where I wanted to play.”
Saleh majors in sport management and is a Dean’s List student. He’s not sure of what he will do with that degree. “I might want to coach,” he said
But first, he will give pro tennis a shot.
Mueller said that Saleh has a role model in Justin Jefferson, the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver who was not considered a great NFL prospect in college but developed himself into an All-Pro player.
“He identifies with African America athletes who have overcome great odds,” Mueller said.
Saleh is so into Jefferson that he took a bus to New Jersey last fall to catch the Vikings playing the New York Jets, and flew home that night. He arrived at home at midnight and had a 6 a.m. practice the next day.
“It was worth it,” he said. “I enjoyed watching him play. He’s been an inspiration to me.
“I realize how difficult it is to become a pro. But I have this mindset that if you really want something hard enough, then you have to work for it to get it. You have to put in the time.”
And Saleh, clearly, is putting in the time.
Minium is ODU’s senior executive writer. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram