Feb. 8, 2009

DEKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois head men's tennis coach Pawel Gajdzik continued to bolster his international recruiting roots with the official signing of Szymon Tatarczyk for the 2009-10 campaign. A native of Gorzyczki, Poland, Tatarczyk has reached an International Tennis Federation ranking as high as No. 54 in the world.

"The signing of Szymon is certainly an impact addition to our program," said Gajdzik. "He is a great student, and his athletic ability and extensive tennis experience speaks for itself. He has been competing internationally since he was 12 years old, and played in all of the big tournaments that top Division I prospects compete in on a regular basis.

"We expect Szymon to come in and contribute at the top of our lineup right away. He is the same caliber of player as Jurica (Grubisic) and Pawel (Poziomski). We are looking forward to Szymon's arrival, and it is another sign that the program is heading in the right direction from a recruiting standpoint. He will represent Northern Illinois University very well."

The 6-foot-1, 176-pound Tatarczyk boasts a 43-30 career singles record on the international junior circuit, and has compiled a 34-26 record in doubles play. As of Jan., 2008, Tatarczyk's combined ITF ranking was No. 63 in the world.

In the past year, Tatarczyk has competed in the Slovakia Cup, the Istres Junior National Tournament (France), the Luxembourg Indoor Junior Open, the Australian Open Junior Championships and the Nottinghill (Australia) ITF Open.

Tatarczyk is the fourth international player to join the NIU program since Gajdzik took over the head coaching duties on July 15, 2008. He is also the second native of Poland to join the program, along with freshman Pawel Poziomski.