It’s been more than 35 years since Ronald Reagan stated, during his first inaugural address, “Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.” We discovered heroes in every state, starting with the determined 69-year-old who won a match at an ITF Pro Circuit event earlier this year in the Alabama town of Pelham, and culminating with the coach who has overcome multiple sclerosis to build a winning program at the University of Wyoming. Their compelling stories of courage, perseverance and achievement demonstrate that the message delivered by our 40th President rings as true today as it did then.
When Bjorn Fratangelo is traveling from tournament to tournament on the ATP tour, he doesn’t get many reminders of home. So it was a nice surprise when his lunch spot on the Wimbledon cafeteria terrace this year gave him the perfect vantage point to cheer on fellow Pittsburgh, PA, native Alison Riske in her first-round match.
“It’s cool that she’s been doing as well as she has, and now I’m trying to catch up,” Fratangelo says of Riske, who reached a career-high rank of No. 40 in 2014. “It’s nice to talk about home with someone on the road.”
The 23-year-old is closing the gap on Riske, bringing an extra boost to the Pennsylvania tennis community in the process. Coached by his father throughout his junior career, Fratangelo and his parents temporarily relocated to Naples, FL, during his high school years so he could compete against a larger talent pool.
His game plan at the time was simple: Put together a solid junior career before making the transition to college tennis.
Then Fratangelo won the French Open boys’ title as a 17-year-old in 2011, propelling his International Tennis Federation junior ranking to No. 2 in the world.
“I had a lot of eyes on me after that,” he says. “It weighed me down a little bit. I didn’t want one good result to anchor the [improvement] process.”
