SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men's tennis head coach Gene Carswell has bolstered the Aztec roster with the recent signing of Roni Rikkonen to a National Letter of Intent.
An international tennis standout from Tampere, Finland, Rikkonen will be eligible to compete for the Scarlet and Black in time for the 2020-21 campaign. He becomes the second recruit to join the program this year after Oregon prep senior Judson Blair committed to SDSU during the early signing period last fall.
"We are very excited to announce the addition of Roni to our Aztec family," Carswell said. "He's a national junior champion and top-10 men's player from Finland who brings worldwide experience with him to the college ranks. Roni will make an immediate impact in our doubles and singles lineups and will be a good fit among our strong group of returners and newcomers. We look forward to his arrival on campus this fall."
In his native Finland, Rikkonen has won 14 junior national championship gold medals across all age groups (12-21) in both doubles and singles and has held a No. 9 national ranking in that country since 2018.
In addition, Rikkonen was a member of the Finnish national team that competed in the European and Nordic Championships, as well as the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival.
In 2018, Rikkonen enjoyed a successful year on the ITF junior tour, winning doubles titles at the Stavanger (Norway) ITF, the Prince Cup in Liepaja, Latvia, and the Tartu (Estonia) ITF Junior to go with finals appearances in two other events. He has also advanced to the semifinal round in singles play on several occasions since 2015.
Rikkonen has witnessed success on the Tennis Europe junior circuit as well, winning the Boys 16 singles championship at the 2016 Pajulahti Cup in Nastola, Finland. In doubles, he was a finalist in the Boys 16 age group at the 2015 Wilson Junior Tournament, also held in Nastola, and advanced to the Boys 14 championship match at the 15th Babolat Cup in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2014.
A heavily recruited player, Rikkonen chose San Diego State over several schools, including Mountain West rivals Boise State and Fresno State, as well as Iowa, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Marymount, Denver and Coastal Carolina, among others.
Additionally, Rikkonen played competitive soccer until the age of 14 and received a basic education degree in piano music from Tampere Conservatoire. He plans to major in business at SDSU.
San Diego State looks to build on a 2020 campaign that saw it post a 5-5 record in dual-match competition before the remainder of the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.