By John Brice
Special Contributor
When Yo Gotti waxed poetic about how life “goes down in the DMs,” it’s doubtful anyone envisioned that approach as origin for an incredible – and still unfolding – Notre Dame tennis success story.
Yet, here was Ryan Sachire and the rest of his veteran Irish tennis staff, scouting and then sliding into the direct messages of burgeoning international tennis star Sebastian Dominko.
A digital trip, at least on initial contact, was vastly more feasible as opposed to the transcontinental, multi-leg flight from South Bend, Indiana, to Graz, Austria, that still left an hour-long drive to Dominko’s native Maribor, Slovenia.
“Our sport is one where there are international rankings, and basically every school goes down the ranking list and will reach out to as many kids as you can find contact info or social media for that you think will fit your program,” Sachire said. “I’m sure that Instagram direct message was that way for many schools with him, but he replied to us, and we hopped in a couple calls.
“It was going into his senior year of high school, and we went to see him at the U.S. Open junior event.”
By that time, Dominko had familiarized himself with the University of Notre Dame – and not just its Paris namesake. That was in stark contrast to his initial message from the resourceful Irish coaches.
“The only Notre Dame I knew was the church in Paris,” said Dominko, an ITA top-70 player. “I really didn’t know about any schools. Back home, the only thing you hear is Harvard. Harvard is from the movies. Maybe sometimes UCLA. But when I looked into it, I was like, ‘OK, Notre Dame is a big part of things I know. Athletics, culture.’ I learned a lot about it.”
These days, Dominko is crafting his own Hollywood narrative: 2023 All-America selection in his debut season of collegiate tennis, a season-ending No. 15 national ranking at the time and already a stalwart for a Notre Dame program a perfect 4-0 at home a month into the 2024 season.
More importantly, he is just two weeks removed from toppling then-No. 50 and now 47th-ranked ATP player Zhang Zhizhen in the Davis Cup World Group finals competition in Guangzhou, China.
A momentous, globally resonant triumph that further accentuated Dominko’s status both within his native Slovenia as well as Notre Dame and the collegiate tennis community writ large, the victory unfolded 6-3, 6-4 with the rangy, powerful Dominko never cowed.
“I think, most importantly, for him individually, it’s the best win of his life, but it shows he is developing, learning and continuing to put himself into a position that whenever he decides to turn pro, ideally after he graduates, he has the ability to succeed,” said Sachire, a Notre Dame alumnus and former three-time All-American who has devoted more than 23 years of his adult life to the school. “I think at times in the tennis community there is some concern, ‘Am I not making the same progress I could be making if I already was playing pro tennis?’ I think this shows, hey, you’re on a great path, and when you do choose to turn pro, you can have success.
“From our program’s perspective, you can come here, you can work hard academically, pursue both elite tennis and academics, and we’re going to ask for both at really high level. Sebastian does that.”
Dominko — whose initial U.S. Open junior visit resulted in trips to Cornell, Wisconsin and Notre Dame, as well as staunch recruiting efforts from collegiate powers Georgia and Ohio State before he settled in America’s Heartland — has remained present in his collegiate season but also allowed reflection on the global statement of his Davis Cup win.
It’s an earned memory for a competitor who played alongside his Irish teammates that weekend in Lexington, Kentucky, then fetched a ride to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, flew cross-country to Los Angeles, onward to Hong Kong and then into China for the matches.
“I made a serve and my first forehand, I just hit it down the line; I don’t know why I did it, I don’t know where I got the courage from, but I did it, and it went in. I won the match,” Dominko, already an indomitable force with double-digit wins, said. “It was like I tied the game at 2-all, came down to the last match, but I’d just beaten the No. 50 guy in the world, but it was not the main thing. We still had one match. I never realized after the match, what it means. It still feels good to think back. There’s always something new I remember.
“That last day for sure made the trip worth it. Coaches were joking saying, ‘OK, now you can go on a court and there’s nobody you cannot beat after 50. If he’s 49, maybe that’s another story.’”
Nothing of Dominko’s story is complete; the message, direct or otherwise, still is being crafted.
“When you have something written on your shirt that you’re playing for, like your country or your school, you have a team behind you,” the 6-foot-8 Dominko said. “At Notre Dame, you have guys standing on the sidelines cheering for you, coaches are there for you, and the same with Davis Cup. You’re representing your country. There have not been many people in history to represent my country Slovenia in tennis.
“I saw a post saying international college athletes are always hearing an anthem other than their own, so it’s nice standing on a court, hearing my anthem and watching my own flag. That feeling is something every athlete wants to feel at least once in their lives.”
Message sent; message received.