Oct. 15, 2001
By Matt Steinke – UK Media Relations
They were in the same class in a high school in Sweden. And now seniors Johan Grunditz and Gustav Pousette are at home on the UK men’s tennis team. Pousette is less than five months older than Grunditz, and the two have known each other since they were 11.
They attended Katedralskolan High School, a very popular tennis academy in Sweden where they refined their skills at a sport they had both been playing since they were toddlers.
Both competed in the Donald Duck Cup, the biggest junior tournament in the country, where former champions include Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. Gustav made it to the finals in his age group when he was 11 and 13 and won the tournament when he was 15. The same year Pousette won, Grunditz finished in 5th place.
After being roommates through high school, the decision fell upon them about what to do after graduation. “In Sweden, if you go to college, you can’t really combine playing tennis and going to school,” Pousette said. “It’s too difficult.”
“Coming to America is really the only way to continue playing tennis and attend college,” Grunditz said. It’s such a great opportunity to be able to come here and do both.”
But why choose Kentucky?
“Another guy from our high school who was a couple years older than us was already attending UK. He put in a good word for us with Coach (Dennis) Emery who called us in the fall of our senior year,” Pousette said.
The two came to the United States only one week before classes started their freshman year in a very new environment. “The first semester was very difficult. Coming to a new country, getting used to a new language,” Grunditz said.
“It was a good thing we were able to come over here together. There was a lot to do when we got here so we were able to look out for each other,” Pousette said.
Talking to other friends from their former high school is usually not a problem. “A lot of them are here in the U.S. playing tennis for different schools. There are about 10 Swedes in the SEC so I see former classmates from time to time, and even play against them every now and then,” Grunditz said.
Both Grunditz and Pousette travel to Sweden to see their families at Christmas and in the summertime. “It was hard being so far from home at first,” Grunditz said. “Eventually I got used to it. But every time I come back to UK after being in Sweden, I always feel a bit homesick for a couple weeks.”
Now in their fourth year at Kentucky, the Swedes are looked to as the leaders of the men’s tennis program. “Besides them, the rest of our top seven are either freshmen or sophomores, so I’m looking forward to them being the leaders of this team,” Coach Emery said. “They have been on some good teams that have had some big wins in clutch situations so I know they can handle that kind of responsibility. They’re both very intelligent on and off the court, and I never have to question their love of the game.”
Academically, both are excellent students. Gustav is a double major in international economics and German. Johan is studying business finance. Both maintain straight-A averages.
Although they have been together as roommates and friends for about eight years, after graduation in May, 2002, they may go their separate ways. “I’m probably going to stay around here after I graduate. I might go back to school to get a graduate degree. But it’s still up in the air,” Pousette said. Grunditz is a little more certain he will go back to Sweden and enroll in a graduate program there. It would, however, be unusual to see them apart, anywhere in the world.
