Henry Ruger has tennis in his genes.
His entire family played the sport, and his mother competed at both the collegiate and professional levels, climbing as high as No. 184 on the WTA Tour. Even while juggling multiple sports in middle school, Ruger’s path seemed inevitable.
“I started playing tennis at eight or nine years old, but I played other sports throughout middle school and high school as well,” Ruger told The Hustler. “I didn’t really specialize in tennis until I was 14 or 15. I just realized that I liked tennis a lot more than anything else.”
After dropping both soccer and squash to focus solely on tennis, Ruger excelled. He played on Germantown Friends School’s varsity team his first two years of high school and didn’t drop a single match before realizing that his time would be better spent in year-round United States Tennis Association tournaments.
Fast forward two years, and Ruger checked in on Tennis Recruiting as a five-star recruit, garnering accolades as the 2019 USTA B18 Middle States top-ranked national player with a Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) of 12.61. That was more than enough to draw the attention of Division I programs like Columbia, where Ruger ultimately committed.
“I wanted to be somewhere in the northeast close [enough] to home, and Columbia really had everything I was looking for. My family is pretty academically demanding and [Columbia’s] academics speak for themselves,” Ruger said. “We were looking for a pretty rigorous place and the tennis program itself is such a family with their alumni network. I got along really well with coach Howie [Endelman], and the players all got along super well.”
Ruger’s first season was not to be, as the 2020–2021 campaign was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With classes held online and most players off campus, he found himself in a unique position — one of the few Columbia tennis players living in the dorms and able to train with the Lions’ coaches at the university’s facilities. That period proved monumental for his development.
“I was fortunate enough to be there in New York to start training a little bit with the coaches,” Ruger said. “There were a lot of restrictions, but I probably improved the most in that period of time because Howie [Endelman] and Rich [Bonfiglio] spent so many hours pushing me in practice.”
Ruger quickly emerged as a key contributor in Columbia’s lineup. As a sophomore, he compiled a 20-15 singles record and played pivotal matches at the No. 3 and 4 spots, including a comeback win over Notre Dame that helped the Lions reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He built on that momentum as a junior, notching a 20-9 singles mark and going 5-1 in Ivy League play while anchoring the No. 5 and 6 singles spots. Ruger also played a key role in doubles and helped Columbia notch another NCAA Tournament win.
He delivered again in his senior season with an 18-8 singles record, also going 12-5 in dual matches and 11-3 in doubles. Columbia pieced together a historic season, reaching the Elite Eight for the first time in program history after defeating Quinnipiac, Michigan and Arizona. Earning the opportunity to participate in three NCAA Tournaments was an experience that Ruger will never forget.
“Being with a group of guys for three years was so much fun, and then seeing how we improved from year to year was the most rewarding thing. We handled the pressure at a high level,” Ruger said. “That comfortability came from our coaches because they instilled so much confidence in us as players. We weren’t surprised that we were flying to [the Elite Eight]. We truly believed we were one of the best teams in the country.”
Off the court, Ruger’s impact was just as strong. He earned Academic All-Ivy League honors and was named the recipient of the ITA Northeast Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award.
After graduating from Columbia, Ruger sought a program that echoed the same values that first drew him to the Ivy League: strong academics and a close-knit, family-like team culture. Vanderbilt checked all of those boxes, especially with its strong pre-medical program.
“Scott [Brown] and I got into contact and the program seemed like a really great fit for me,” Ruger said. “Also, one of my goals is to go to medical school in a few years, and I didn’t take all of the prerequisite coursework at Columbia. With this fifth year, I was aiming to play for a strong program while starting those classes, which Scott was really open to.”
It didn’t take long for Ruger to find his footing at Vanderbilt, where the team’s genuine sense of community mirrored what he valued at Columbia.
“I can’t stress enough how welcoming the [Vanderbilt] team was,” Ruger said. “On my first visit, everything felt really natural and it seemed like a great group of guys. When I actually came here last summer, that remained true. The guys have welcomed me with completely open arms, and it’s been really awesome.”
Ruger made a splash early on in Nashville. He checked in at No. 86 in the ITA doubles rankings with sophomore Hugo Coquelin. The two found particular success in the fall, as the duo strung together a five-match win streak in late September and advanced to the Round of 16 at the prestigious ITA All-American Championship. The graduate transfer made a living at No. 4 and 5 singles and No. 3 doubles, finishing the full season with an 18-12 overall singles record and a 23-12 mark in doubles.
Ruger played a pivotal role in Vanderbilt’s late-season surge, which included wins over Ole Miss, Eastern Illinois, Arkansas and a marquee victory against No. 22 Oklahoma to close out the regular season. He went undefeated during the streak, capping it off with a clutch 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over Jordan Hasson in the Commodores’ upset of the Sooners. Despite the strong finish, Vanderbilt’s season ended with a first-round loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament.
“[College tennis] has been an amazing opportunity,” Ruger said. “I’m so thankful that [Brown] was willing to give me this opportunity. I’ve left it all out there.”
With his collegiate tennis career now behind him, Ruger has his sights set on medical school. Although his days on the court are over, he plans to carry that same drive into his next chapter.
