Michigan State freshman tennis player Taym Alazmeh doesn’t remember much about his childhood home in Damascus, or his native Syria. He and his family left in 2011, when he was eight, due to a war breaking out and a worsening political situation.
Many families were not as lucky as his to make it out safely. According to the UN Human Rights Office, more than 300,000 Syrian civilians died between 2011 and 2021. Their departure from Syria may have saved their lives.
“My parents felt that it was not safe for us to stay and it would be better for our future to leave,” Alazmeh said. “We all left together. Me, my brother, my mom, my dad. We moved to Qatar because we had family living there.”
Alazmeh said he wasn’t completely aware of what was going on at such a young age, not realizing it may be the last time he would be in Syria. As he got older, this realization became more difficult.
“I find it pretty sad I don’t have that many memories just because we left when I was so young,” Alazmeh said. “I would love to go back and get a clearer picture of what it’s like.”
Tennis has been the constant in his life, in his life back in Syria, through the family’s moves to Qatar and Germany, and now here, with his spot on Michigan State’s tennis team. Alazmeh started playing tennis at age four, practicing with his family in his backyard. He started sessions with a coach around age five.
It hasn’t been easy for Alazmeh, moving to a different country three times throughout his life. Despite a lot of uncertainty and change, the freshman has become a key addition for Michigan State tennis since arriving on campus.
Alazmeh and his family moved to Frankfurt, Germany after living in Qatar for eight years. Because his mother is half German, his family has German passports. Alazmeh said part of the reason they moved to Germany was due to the lack of opportunities to practice tennis in Qatar.
“I liked the opportunity, especially in terms of tennis,” Alazmeh said. “Tennis there is on a pretty high level, so it was really good for me to develop my game.”
Alazmeh practiced at Alexander Waske Tennis-University, a tennis academy near Frankfurt. He practiced full time at the academy during the four years he lived in Germany and attended online school, allowing his entire day to be devoted to tennis.
It took some time for…
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