Few college athletes possess the talent to make it to the professional level.
Marc Flur, Trinity '83, came into the Duke men's tennis program as a walk-on. When he left, however, he advanced to the ranks of professional tennis, where he played for six years.
Prior to college, Flur played on the junior tennis circuit, but was not actively recruited by John LeBar, who was the Blue Devils' coach at that time.
"I went to watch [Flur] at Kalamazoo at the [junior] nationals," LeBar said. "He was not spectacular, but I encouraged him to come, and he was bright."
During his college career, Flur developed his game and eventually won All-America honors his senior year, and finished the year with a No. 15 national ranking.
"He got better and stronger and had a great return of serve," LeBar said of Flur's development in college. "He's a very, very smart player. He just got better every year."
Flur credits some of his development to LeBar, who was coach through Flur's junior year.
"The whole atmosphere was different for me," Flur said. "I wasn't used to that kind of intensity every day. [LeBar] taught me a lot about the game."
Flur and LeBar became good friends while at Duke, and they have maintained that relationship over the years. After Flur's junior year, however, LeBar retired and Steve Strome became the head coach.
"LeBar was very well-liked and well-respected by the guys on the team," Flur said. "The team had been together for a while, so there was a core group of players coming back. [The coaching change] threw everything in a little turmoil."
Flur's most memorable moment from collegiate tennis came at the end of his junior year, when Duke was playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
The tournament had a different format than the present one does. Instead of playing dual matches against other schools, all the players at each position went in a draw and played one another. Each win gave the player's team a certain number of points.
The tournament was also held at a different college site every year, and just happened to be at Duke that year. But the Duke Tennis Stadium had not yet been built, so the spectators that had gathered to watch the final day's matches stood anywhere that they could.
Flur had advanced to the finals as the No. 2 singles player, and faced Clemson's Jean Desdunes, who is currently the coach of the Georgia Tech men's tennis team. Clemson was the dominant force in the ACC, and Desdunes had beaten Flur during the regular season.
"There were about 3,000 people standing on top of the shed and around the fence," Flur said. "It was the best tennis atmosphere that I think Duke has had."
To add another difference from today's play, no advantage scoring was used in the tournament. Instead of having to win by two points and sometimes producing countless advantage points and deuces, the player who captured the next point after 40-all won the game.
Despite the different format, Flur still managed to save six match points in the second set.
"I was down 6-1, 5-3," Flur said. "I saved one match point at 5-3, two match points at 5-4 and three match points at 5-5. Then I won the second set in a tiebreaker and the third set 6-3. It was the best comeback I've ever had because of the atmosphere, the crowd and the importance of the situation."
The Blue Devils ended up defeating Clemson for the ACC championship in that tournament. That win marked the first time that the Duke men's tennis team captured a conference title.
Even though Flur's play kept improving throughout his college career, he did not really consider professional tennis until his senior year.
"[Playing professionally] was great most of the time," Flur said. "It's something that I'll certainly never forget. It's tougher than most people think."
After competing in a team format in college, Flur found the adjustment to playing on the tour somewhat difficult. He had played in some tournaments during the summer as an individual, but always had the comfort of going back to compete with his teammates the next academic year.
"I enjoyed the team atmosphere so much," Flur said. "The pressure wasn't on when I was in school."
Flur was far from the norm of the pro on the tennis tour, since few professionals bother with college. It was because of that background--having graduated from a strong academic school--that he and current men's tennis coach Jay Lapidus, who graduated from Princeton, became friends while playing on the tour together.
"I didn't really like the people [on the tour]," Flur said. "You don't find many college graduates, and half of them are from other countries. Even the ones from the U.S. usually don't go to college or only went one year.
"There is a different breed of individuals out there playing pro tennis. But I always knew I had in my back pocket a diploma from a great school. In a sense, the pressure was much greater for [the other players], since they didn't have much to fall back on."
Flur won several smaller tournaments in his years on the tour, and played in grand slam tournaments several times. Yet after six years, he realized that he no longer had the motivation to compete professionally.
"I tried to quit about 15 times over those six years," Flur said. "I just knew it was time. I knew I had reached all of my goals, at least the realistic ones. I didn't have the motivation to practice."
When Flur stopped playing professionally, he had never considered what he wanted to do. After a year's break, Flur came back to Duke and entered the Fuqua School of Business. When Lapidus took over the men's program in 1991, Flur helped with the men's team until he received his MBA in 1992.
Despite this brief coaching stint, Flur does not see coaching in his future.
"The thought crossed my mind," Flur said. "It would be fun for a while, but I couldn't see myself doing it for the rest of my life."
Flur is currently employed by Piedmont Prudential. The firm sells insurance and provides financial services for individuals and business owners.
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