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Staten Island's Chris Auteri loves the word "opportunity."

As a top junior player growing up in the New York City area, he had to make the most of each opportunity, which includes limited court time playing indoor tennis during the cold winter months. He looked at playing a second sport in soccer for all four years of high school as an opportunity to improve his footwork and endurance for tennis. He also made use of frequent opportunities to visit the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the U.S. Open fortnight to watch and learn from the professionals to see what he could add to his own game.

Auteri says he is also grateful to Lehigh University Head Men's Tennis Coach Wouter Hendrix for the opportunity to make a commitment to play tennis for the Mountain Hawks.

Auteri said he had choices, but ultimately, Lehigh was the best fit.

"I was really interested in smaller schools," offered Auteri, a senior at Staten Island Academy. "I think I was (comfortable) going to a pretty small private school. I didn't want to go too far away from home either. Lehigh was the perfect fit for both academics and tennis. I really like what they had to offer when it came to academics."

Specifically, Auteri likes the fact that at Lehigh all classes end each day at 4 p.m. He then knows there is tennis practice for a few hours and after that is the chance to get caught up on homework or whatever else needs to be done.

"At Lehigh, they schedule things very well," adds Auteri. "I think structure is good for a team. We are going to be at practice together. and then we can go out with each other. It's good for the chemistry of the team."

What is also good for the Lehigh tennis team is the recent investment the university and alumni have made in the program. It includes endowing the head men's tennis coach position and the overhaul and updating of the Ulrich Varsity Tennis Courts.