Ferguson's athletic background showing up on court

IU junior Lachlan Ferguson and his older brother, Callum, never had a chance:
They were going to be involved in sports. 

Ferguson’s father, Jim, said he and his wife, Pauline, decided very early on that the busier their sons were with athletics, the less trouble they would get themselves into.
That’s the way Jim and Pauline had been raised. They played a great deal of tennis from an early age and eventually became successful professional tennis players in Australia.

“We wanted the boys to enjoy a busy outdoor life,” said Jim Ferguson, who is in town for the week to visit Lachlan. “Whatever schools they picked up along the way was terrific.”  

Tennis wasn’t the only sport for the Ferguson boys, however. Lachlan and Callum grew up competing in both cricket and tennis but could only choose one when they grew into teenagers.  

Callum went with cricket, and he is currently playing professionally on the Australian national team. Lachlan chose tennis, and he has never stopped playing since.

“When I was about 13, dad sat me down and said ‘it’s probably about time you pick a sport,’” said Lachlan, who plays No. 1 singles and doubles for the Hoosiers. “We had just had a tennis court put in our yard and, to be honest, I didn’t want it to go to waste. So I was like, ‘Alright dad, sign me up. I’m going to be a tennis player.’”

At age 15, Lachlan left high school and began traveling around with the Australian national team. His game got better, he started to feel more comfortable, and he decided to join a professional tour a couple of years later.

But after a year playing against the pros, Lachlan decided to go back home in Adelaide, Australia, and decide what he wanted to do next. He didn’t enjoy tennis as much during that year on the tour, and he had a lot of studying to do.

“I wanted to look at some other options, and I hadn’t finished high school,” he said. “So I went back to study and finished my high school through the Internet. And then I started e-mailing back some of the college coaches that had contacted me during my years away from home. The rest is history.”

Lachlan came to IU, leaving behind his friends and family in Australia for another four-year period.

He now spends his summer breaks playing team tennis in Germany, so visits with his family are few and far between.

But adjusting to Bloomington wasn’t difficult, he said, because he had been away from home so often during the previous four years.

“It wasn’t that tough because I moved away from home when I was 15,” Ferguson said. “I had to train with the national team, so I left home and moved to Melbourne. But, yeah, I haven’t been home that often since coming here. I have only spent a couple of weeks here and there back home over the past three or four years. I mean, I miss my brother and my mom and dad, but I will get back there eventually.”

While Jim and Pauline miss seeing their son on a regular basis, they have turned his new life into an opportunity to see a different type of tennis played in a different country.

They spent about two weeks in Bloomington last spring, and Jim is back again this year.

Jim has been blown away by the opportunities Lachlan and other college tennis players have in the U.S., and he said he is grateful that a game such as tennis has given Lachlan a life many Australians only dream of.

“We’ve enjoyed the environment watching the kids out here,” he said. “They have a magnificent facility. The competition is fantastic and the facilities are to die for. I wish we had some of these facilities back in Australia.”

Decision time is nearing for Lachlan. He’s not sure exactly what he wants to do when he graduates. His father would like to see him give the professional game another try. Lachlan hopes that can happen.  

But he has other options.

Ferguson, who was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District team in 2009, will work toward a Master’s Degree in physical therapy when he returns home. His 3.90 GPA. is the best on the team.

Lachlan said he might start pursuing that degree during an extended down period following a surgery this summer. He has spent a good part of this season battling injuries and knows he must get them corrected if he wants another chance to play professionally.  

“I will most likely get that done. It’s a pretty serious operation,” he said. “A lot will be determined by how that operation goes. If I come back and I’m feeling good, I might go out and play for a little while. I’m playing reasonably well at the moment, so that’s an option.  

“I’m going to have to sit down and make a decision when the time comes, but I’m going to sit on that one for a while.”  

Ferguson will soon leave IU, but he will always be a Hoosier; that’s a given. He is the team captain. He’s the team’s best and most academically successful player.  
And he cares so much more about his teammates than he does about himself.  
Even when he was injured for a stretch at the beginning of the spring season, he attended practice every day and motivated his teammates.

He stood on the sideline like a coach, readily giving the other players advice and encouragement.

For Lachlan, that has always been the only way to do things. He turns negatives into positives. He puts others before himself.  

That mindset came from his father, who still works with Lachlan even though he sees him for only a couple of weeks each year.

Jim shares his experience. He gives Lachlan praise. He corrects him when he does something wrong.

Nothing he does goes unnoticed by Lachlan. Because, even after everything Lachlan has been through in his busy life, his dad has always been there for him.

“It’s great. I really like it,” he said. “I really miss him a lot. It’s funny because I’ve had a hard time at some stages in my career trying to get advice out of him. He’s taken a back seat in my career, for good or for bad. But I’m a little older now, and hopefully a little more mature, so when I get out on the court, our relationship is really good. It’s really an amazing thing.”