SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men's tennis head coach Gene Carswell has proudly announced the signing of Alexander Mandma (Tallinn, Estonia) to a National Letter of Intent.
With a wealth of international championship experience under his belt, Mandma is one of the program's most accomplished recruits in recent memory and will be eligible to compete for the Aztecs in time for the 2021-22 season.
Mandma earned a high junior ranking of 296 by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in December 2018 after climbing to fourth in the U14 rankings by Tennis Europe for three consecutive weeks in the fall of 2016. He was also chosen as the top player in his age group for six years by the Estonian Tennis Association.
"We are very excited to welcome Alexander to our Aztec family," Carswell said. "Alexander is a great competitor with a tremendous work ethic who will make an immediate impact in our lineup. We can't wait for his arrival on campus next fall."
As a junior competitor, Mandma captured eight ITF doubles titles between 2017-19, including six in 2018 alone, while advancing to the semifinals in singles play four times during that span.
In April 2019, Mandma was victorious at the J3 Istanbul Koza Woz Cup in Turkey, teaming with Latvia's Karlis Ozolins to defeat the Russian duo of Igor Trunov and Vladislav Sveridenko in a tiebreaker, 6-1, 1-6, 10-6.
Mandma also joined forces with Ozolins to win a pair of G4 events in Latvia in 2018, capturing the Ventspils Open with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Sweden's Liam Hedlund and Erik Grevelius. The tandem also won the Riga Open on clay, defeating future Aztec teammates Johannes Seeman and Roni Rikkonen in another tiebreaker, 3-6, 6-3, 10-6.
In addition, Mandma combined with Sweden's Mans Dahlberg to capture the 2018 Vierumäki Dunlop Junior Cup in Finland while pairing with Poland's Makarey Adamek to take home the Preveza Cup championship in Greece earlier that year.
In singles competition, Mandma advanced to the semifinals in four ITF tournaments in 2018, including the TATS Open (Finland), Siauliai Mayor's Cup (Lithuania), Governor Cup (Russia) and Adazi Open (Latvia).
From 2013-17, Mandma was a force to be reckoned with on the Tennis Europe circuit, winning 14 doubles championships while taking home six singles crowns. In addition, he advanced to the doubles finals in five other tournaments while appearing in two more title matches for singles. In Tennis Europe events, Mändma compiled a 131-65 overall singles record and a 93-44 mark in doubles, according to the organization's website.
Mandma's final singles title on the Tennis Europe tour was captured at the 2016 Jelgava Open in Latvia, where he routed Lithuania's Matas Vasiliauskas for the Boys 16 championship, 6-0, 6-2. In 2017, Mandma earned his last Tennis Europe doubles crown, teaming with Poland's Mikolaj Lorens to defeat Italy's Mauro De Maio and Fausto Tabacco for the Boys 16 title, 6-1, 6-2, in Torelló, Spain.
Not to be outdone, Mandma was a five-time national champion in Estonia from 2012-16 and claimed four doubles titles in his native country in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020. He was also a mixed doubles champion in Estonia for both the U14 (2015) and U16 (2016) categories and was a U18 Master's winner in 2016 as well.
Mandma currently attends Audentes Private School in his hometown of Tallinn, Estonia.