Alexander Cozbinov (born 28 April 1995) is a Moldovan tennis player. Cozbinov has a career high ATP singles ranking of 743 achieved on 2 March 2020. Cozbinov played college tennis at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas between 2015–2018. He won the Mountain West Conference Tennis Player of the Year in 2018. In 2020, Alex sat for an exclusive interview with Tennis Acumen, and talked about his experience at UNLV.
Tennis Acumen: How did you come to play tennis at UNLV, University of Nevada Las Vegas?
Alexander Cozbinov: Well, I was playing at future events in Romania. One of the coaches there used to be assistant coach at UNLV. He asked me if I'm planning on going to college, and I said: “Yes.” He came to watch one of my matches and then he told the head coach at UNLV about me. The head coach contacted me and that's how I went to UNLV.
Tennis Acumen: That had to be a big decision.
Alexander Cozbinov: Yes, it was. But there weren’t a lot of options for me. After I graduated from high school, my family didn't have money to support my tennis, because it's very expensive. So, I basically had a choice: stop playing or going to college and play tennis and study. I had only four months to decide. So, when UNLV offered me a scholarship. I took it right away and went to UNLV.
Tennis Acumen: J.P. Smith told me that playing in college, everything is very structured. You have your food and meals and hotels and your travel. Everything's arranged. Was it difficult to make the transition where you have to do it all by yourself?
Alexander Cozbinov: Oh yeah. It was very difficult to do it on my own. I almost quit at some point. You have to find financial support. You have to pay for all expenses on your own, which makes it very difficult to keep playing and stay on the tour. You have to always keep finding ways to keep coming back. So, it's way more difficult once you decide to play professional tennis on your own.
Tennis Acumen: What's the difference between playing tennis as part of a team in college, compared to being out solo on the tour?
Alexander Cozbinov: Well, the tour is more individual. You're trying to build your ranking on your own. College is more about the team. It's more fun, more exciting. You travel as a team. You do everything as a team which I kind of enjoyed a lot in college.
Tennis Acumen: OK. So, do you still keep in touch with people you played with?
Alexander Cozbinov: I have friends, I am still friends with my teammates and I still keep in touch with the coaching staff, too.
Tennis Acumen: It's really interesting, your experience. One thing I'd heard is this: in college, you get fairly large audiences. When you come out the Futures and Challengers, there's nobody there. Can you compare the audience for college tennis to the audience at this level?
Alexander Cozbinov: Yes. In college it’s much louder. I liked it. Here, it's way calmer and quieter. I enjoyed the crowds. Some people don't like it because it interrupts the game. I was OK. Here, not many people come out and it's not as exciting. I guess because it’s about only one player, not about the team.
For more in our series on college tennis, select the 'College Tennis' category, upper right.
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