There are very few things that cross over cultures the way sports do. Having been a tennis player in the Philippines, Hong Kong and now Ithaca, freshman Fargo Balliet has witnessed this crossover firsthand.

Balliet’s journey toward earning a spot on the men’s tennis team began some 8,500 miles from New York in the Philippines. His father grew up on Long Island, so Balliet has always had an American influence in his life, but for his first 14 years, he lived in his mother’s home country of the Philippines.

Though he played some tennis in the Philippines, Balliet discovered his love of the game after he moved to Hong Kong. He made the decision to leave his home country and attend the Canadian International School of Hong Kong for high school.

While living with his uncle in Hong Kong, Balliet started hitting the court every day. When he made his high school team, tennis provided an opportunity to travel even more, playing tournaments in Thailand and Singapore.

“When I first moved to Hong Kong is when I started getting serious,” Balliet said. “I went from playing three times a year to three times a week.”

Balliet credits his high school coach with giving him the inspiration to make tennis more than just a hobby, develop his game in Hong Kong and continue to pursue it in college.

“My strength is my mental game,” Balliet said. “Even if I’m losing or about to lose, I keep it in my mind that I have a chance to win.”

When it was time to pick colleges, coming to Ithaca made sense because Balliet’s father knew Head Coach Bill Austin.

Though he has not cracked the top six on the depth chart, Balliet is taking his positive mental approach that he developed in Hong Kong to his offseason training — hitting the gym and getting into game shape.

Off the court, Balliet said growing up in a very Americanized family and attending the Canadian International School has helped him adjust to life in Ithaca. He said he has not experienced any culture shock, but the one issue he’s had is that no one here likes his music.

But even though Balliet, fluent in both English and Filipino, has had no problems adjusting to life in the United States, he said he’ll be returning to Asia after the school year is over.

“I would not survive one week in Ithaca with no one here,” he said. “I’m a city boy, and I need the concrete and metal, but I’ll be playing three or four hours of tennis a day.”