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There's just something about Kalamazoo that Chris Cha loves.

Every year he goes, he plays better. In 2006, the jitters of being on a big stage got the better of him and while he won his first-round match, he lost the next match to the 31st seed in three sets. The next year he breezed through the first four rounds, losing only six games in four matches, before falling to top seed Tennys Sandgren, again valiantly in three.

Chris Cha chose Bruce Berque's Wolverines
© Doug Wrege, TennisRecruiting.net

"I get really excited to play at Kalamazoo," Chris says. "Two weeks before I prepare physically and then the week before I rest my body, but focus my mind."

He and Coach Eric Rand talk about the things he can control in a match and those he can't. He pumps himself up and builds his confidence in his game and himself.

The five-star recruit travels to Michigan with the thought that "I'm ready to go and I'm going to play like a champion."

Little surprise then that after his junior year, he received offers from Stanford, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Princeton.

"I realized the potential choices I was given," Chris says. And he chose to go to Ann Arbor, not too far from where his favorite Kalamazoo takes place.

"Michigan was the perfect choice for me because of the mix of great academics and great athletics," Chris reasons.