WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After completing his first season as head coach, Geoff Young ushered in year two of his tenure by announcing the addition of six new players in the class of 2023-24: Alexander Ekstrand, Aleksa Krivokapic, Soham Purohit, Stefan Simeunovic, Juan David Velasquez and Henrik Villanger.
"I'm very excited about this class of guys joining our team this fall," Young said on the 2023 recruiting class. "They are all great students with tremendous upside as tennis players. This group will be the core of our team for the coming years, and I look forward to the program taking big steps forward."
Young's first true recruiting class features three international players (Krivokapic, Simeunovic and Villanger), two five-star recruits (Ekstrand and Velasquez), and the No. 1 recruit from the Pacific Northwest (Purohit).
The class will welcome an established transfer player from the Big East (Krivokapic, DePaul).
Aleksa Krivokapic stands out as the class's most decorated player. In his freshman season with the Blue Demons, he earned the Big East Freshman of the Year award by going 10-4 in singles play and 4-0 in conference matches. Before DePaul, he was undefeated against four and five-star recruits.
STEFAN SIMEUNOVIC:
6'2 | Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
BEFORE PURDUE
• 4-3 record against Blue-Chip recruits
• Achieved a career-high ranking of 157 in ITF Juniors (11/14/22)
• Reached 10 quarterfinals in ITF Junior events, seven coming in the Main Draw
• Reached four semifinals in ITF Junior events
• Three-time Ontario Provincial Singles Champion (2017, 2019, and 2021)
• Represented Team Ontario in the 2022 Canada Games
• 2017 U12 Canada Nationals Singles Champion
• Reached eight doubles finals in ITF Junior events, winning three
• Reached the final of the J5 Victoria ITF Junior Singles Tournament in Oct. 2021
PERSONAL
• Full Name: Stefan Simeunovic
• Major: Business Analytics and Information Management
• Birthdate: Sept. 14, 2005
• Birthplace: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Languages Spoken: English, French, and Serbian
• Parents: Mladen and Valentina Simeunovic
• Siblings: Sister, Tara Simeunovic
• Fun Fact: Father, Mladen, played volleyball at the University of Belgrade in Serbia, from 1988-1991
Young on Simeunovic: "Stefan is our only lefty in this class and has a very steady game with tools to move forward and finish at the net. I believe he is on the brink of breaking through to the next level in the coming year."
SOHAM PUROHIT:
5'11 | Kirkland, Wash. | Lake Washington High School
BEFORE PURDUE-
• 3-0 record against five-start recruits
• Highest ranking was No. 2 in the TennisRPI (5/4/23)
• Rated the No. 27 overall recruit in the nation on Head.com
• Ranked No. 1 on Tennis Recruiting in the Pacific Northwest and No. 56 in the nation
• Runner up at Boys U14 doubles at National Level Two
• Four-time PNW Junior Sectionals Doubles Champion
• Top-8 finish at Boys U16 Level One Clay Court Nationals
• Reached the Quarterfinals of the J4 Dededo ITF Junior Doubles Tournament in May 2022
• First Team All-King County at Lake Washington High School
PERSONAL
• Full Name: Soham Purohit
• Major: Economics
• Birthdate: Sept. 19, 2005
• Birthplace: Kirkland, Wash.
• Languages Spoken: English and Hindi
• Parents: Bhanu Purohit and Sarika Calla
• Siblings: Brother, Shubhu Purohit
• Fun Fact: Father, Bhanu, works for Google as a technical program manager, and his mother, Sarika, works at Microsoft as an engineering manager
Young on Purohit: "I'm very excited to start working with Soham this fall. I believe his game will transition nicely to college tennis."
JUAN DAVID VELASQUEZ:
5'11 | Naples, Fla. | Emilio Sanchez Academy
BEFORE PURDUE
• Rated as a five-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting Network
• Combined 17-0 against three and four-star recruits
• Finished 2023 as the nation's No. 42 overall recruit and the No. 9 player in the state of Florida by Head.com
• Reached the quarterfinals of the J100 Coral Gables ITF Junior Singles Tournament in May 2023
• Won his way into the main draw of two ITF Junior Singles Tournaments in 2023
• Won the J4 Boca Raton ITF Junior Doubles Tournament in November 2022
• Competed in seven different ITF World Tennis Tour Tournaments from 2021-2023
PERSONAL
• Full Name: Juan David Velasquez
• Major: Finance
• Birthdate: July 10, 2005
• Birthplace: Villavicencio, Colombia
• Languages Spoken: Spanish and English
• Parents: Norbey Velasquez and Luz Deivi
• Siblings: Brother, Juan Pablo and sister, Valentina
• Fun Fact: Juan is a big fan of F1 racing
Young on Velasquez: "JD will bring a lot of experience even though he's a freshman. His game has taken off in the last five months and we look for him to play high in our lineup."
HENRIK VILLANGER:
6'1 | Oslo, Norway | WANG Toppidrett Oslo
BEFORE PURDUE
• Reached five quarterfinals of ITF Junior Events, four coming in the Main Draw
• Punched his ticket to three semifinals of ITF Junior Singles Tournaments in 2022
• Runner up at the J5 Nastola ITF Junior Singles Tournament in October 2022
• Won 20 ITF Junior Event matches, 15 of which were in straight sets
PERSONAL
• Full Name: Henrik Villanger
• Major: Engineering
• Birthdate: March 27, 2004
• Birthplace: Oslo, Norway
• Languages Spoken: Norwegian and English
• Fun Fact: He is a fan of the Liverpool football team
Young on Villanger: "Henrik had a very successful junior career in his home country of Norway. He's a very athletic player with lots of tools to help us in the Big Ten."
ALEXANDER EKSTRAND:
6'4 | Delray Beach, Fla. | American Heritage
BEFORE PURDUE
• Rated as a five-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting Network
• Combined 23-3 record against three and four-star recruits
• Achieved a career-high ranking of 23 from TennisRPI on February 15, 2023
• Rated as the No. 36 overall recruit, and the No. 8 recruit in Florida by Head.com
• Champion and Finalist in the Battle of Boca Tournament
• South California CIF and Regionals Champion
PERSONAL
• Full Name: Alexander Ekstrand
• Preferred Name: Xander
• Major: Business and Engineering
• Birthdate: June 26, 2004
• Birthplace: Santa Monica, Calif.
• Parents: Rikard and Christine Ekstrand
• Siblings: Brothers, Markus and Karl, sisters, Sophia, Erica, Monika and Viktoria
• Fun Fact: He speaks three languages
Young on Ekstrand: "Xander is a player who is improving quickly, as he started later than most players. His length, big serve and forehand are all perfect weapons to build around as he develops."
ALEKSA KRIVOKAPIC:
6'5 | Podgorica, Montenegro | DePaul
2023 AS A FRESHMAN AT DEPAUL
• 2023 Big East Freshman of the Year
• Went 10-4 in singles play
• Went undefeated in Big East play at 4-0
• Played at the top four positions, with a winning record at No. 1, 2 and 4
BEFORE PURDUE
• Undefeated against Four and Five-Star recruits
• 1-0 versus Blue-Chip recruits
• Achieved a career-high ranking ITF Junior ranking No. 384 on Jan. 4, 2021
• Reached the quartefinals of 6 ITF Junior Singles Tournaments
• Runner up in two ITF Juniors Doubles Tournaments
• Reached the semifinals of 4 ITF Junior Singles Tournaments
• Runner-Up at the J4 Podgorica ITF Junior Singles Tournament in September 2020
• Won his way into the Main Draw of the M15 Ulcinj ITF Men's World Tennis Tour in May 2022
PERSONAL
• Full Name: Aleksa Krivokapic
• Major: Undecided
• Birthdate: May 15, 2003
• Birthplace: Podgorica, Montenegro
• Parents: Andrija and Ana Krivokapic
• Fun Fact: He makes a great pasta from scratch
Young on Krivokapic: "Aleksa has a year of college tennis already under his belt. That and his length and big serve will help us right away."
