SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s tennis head coach Ryan Sachire added two incredible talants to the program on Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period. Alexander Suhanitski and Jonas Kucera put pen to paper and officially joined the Fighting Irish family.
Alexander Suhanitski joins the Irish from New Rochelle, New York, where he attends New Rochell High School.
He was the 2024 New York singles state finalist, then upped it the next year when he went 17-0 in singles en route to the 2025 State championship.
For his efforts, Suhanitski has been named a two-time All-State honoree. He’s a five-star recruit ranked in the top-45 of his class by TennisRecruiting.Net.
The highlight of his prep career thus far – being named the No. 1 singles player in the country for 16 & under.
Coach Sachire on Suhanitski:
“Alex Suhanitski is going to thrive at Notre Dame. He is elite in both aspects of being a student-athlete, and I truly believe that he is going to explode when he gets into the college tennis environment. His ranking has improved significantly each of the last four years, and we believe that he will continue to climb throughout his career at ND. I expect Alex to have a great senior year and make an immediate impact when he arrives on campus.”
Suhanitski on choosing Notre Dame:
“I chose Notre Dame because it felt like the perfect place to grow as both a student and an athlete. The environment, coaching staff, and community make it the perfect place to continue chasing my goals.”
Jonas Kucera arrives to South Bend all the way from Liberec, Czech Republic. He’s reached an ATP singles ranking as high as 1241 and an ATP doubles ranking of 916.
Some early career highlights for Kucera include:
- Won first round in qualies at ATP 75 tournament
- Winner of ITF 15 in doubles
- Two doubles finals at ITF’s 15 in Rovinj, Croatia and Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland.
- Made quarters at ITF 15 in Allershausen, Germany.
Kucera also stated the highlight of his young career thus far was playing Alex Barrena (176) at this years ATP challenger in Liberec.
Coach Sachire on Kucera:
“We are thrilled to have Jonas join our program next fall. As we got to know him throughout the recruiting process, we found that Jonas is an absolute perfect fit for Notre Dame both academically and athletically. Over the past couple of years, Jonas has competed in several professional events and has established himself as one of the best players in the world for his age. I couldn’t be more excited to help Jonas develop into the best version of himself on and off the court during his four years at ND!”
Kucera on choosing Notre Dame:
“I chose Notre Dame because of its tradition of excellence, both in academics and athletics. And I’m very excited to be part of this program.”
– ND –