Badgers welcome Sebastian Vile as transfer
May 06, 2021 | Men's Tennis
Men’s tennis program adds veteran of Big Ten competition for 2021-22 season
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's tennis team has bolstered its roster for next season by adding a veteran of Big Ten competition in Sebastian Vile.
Head coach Danny Westerman announced Thursday the addition of Vile, who will transfer to Wisconsin for the 2021-22 season.
Vile will join the Badgers as a senior following three successful seasons at Minnesota in which he won 31 singles matches and contributed to 28 doubles wins, despite the fact that each of the last two campaigns featured a limited number of competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vile's transfer comes after Minnesota announced last year that it would no longer field a men's tennis program following the completion of the 2020-21 season.
"I'd like to thank my coaches and teammates at Minnesota for all the memories and experiences we've had. We are all going our separate ways but I will be rooting for all of you in your next adventures," said Vile, who hails from Rochester, Minn. "As for me, I couldn't be more excited to join the Badgers in the fall. The chance to keep competing in the Big Ten was too good of an opportunity to turn down and the coaching staff has been wonderful throughout this process. I can't wait to get started."
"We are incredibly excited to add Sebastian to our program this fall," said Westerman, who will be in his seventh season at the helm of his alma mater's program in 2021-22. "I have seen Sebastian grow tremendously over the last three years, and he has been very successful in both singles and doubles at a top program in Minnesota. He has been very well coached at UM and will bring a great deal of energy and enthusiasm — on top of his already strong skill set — to our team. He and his Gopher teammates handled a very difficult situation with a ton of class and dignity and we are happy he can continue to tennis career here at Wisconsin."
Vile, who currently holds a Universal Tennis Ranking of 12.5, went 11-8 in singles play and 9-7 in doubles play during the abbreviated, conference-only 2020-21 season. Overall, he held a singles record of 9-7 and a doubles mark of 11-4 when the 2019-20 campaign was ceased last March due to the emergence of COVID-19. That halted a promising spring dual meet season in which he posted records of 4-2 in singles and 5-1 in doubles.
Though he saw limited action during the Big Ten season as a freshman in 2018-19, Vile posted 11 singles wins overall and went 6-2 in doubles during the Gophers' dual meet schedule.
A psychology major, he earned Academic All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore.
Vile was a decorated player at Rochester Mayo High School before playing collegiately. A five-star recruit who ranked as high as No. 34 in his class, Vile claimed the Minnesota Class 2A state singles championship in 2018 to cap an undefeated senior season. That followed his runner-up finish as a junior in 2017 and culminated a run that saw him place in the top five of the state tournament in each of his four prep seasons.
