Tom Bittner

Mens Tennis Media Day on Sept. 25, 2024 in Missoula, Montana.

Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Neusaess, Germany

2024/25 (Jr.):
Expected to once again be one of the top players in the Big Sky as a junior… Is the second-highest ranked returning player in the Mountain Region... Missed the fall tournament season rehabbing from surgery.

2023/24 (So.):
• Finished season ranked No. 10 in the Mountain Region
• Unanimous First Team All-Big Sky
• co-Recipient of the Kris Nord Grizzly Grit Award (Team MVP)
• Big Sky Player of the Week (Feb. 29)
• co-Recipient of UM’s President’s Award for student-athlete with the highest GPA (4.0)
• ITA Scholar Athlete
• Academic All-Big Sky
Put together one of the best individual seasons in program history, capping the year as the No. 10 ranked singles player in the Mountain Region – the best-ever ranking for a Grizzly… Went 16-2 overall, 7-1 in Big Sky play in singles and 7-1 on court one… Worked his way up from court three to court one over the course of the season, winning six of his last eight matches with his only loss coming to MVP Mark Keki, a senior from Sacramento State… Was voted as the co-winner of the team's Kris Nord Grizzly Grit MVP award by his teammates and coaches after showing steady improvement-turned dominance throughout the season… Was named Big Sky Player of the Week on 2/29 after going undefeated in singles and doubles in a UM sweep of Marquette and North Dakota, winning both singles matches in straight sets and clinching both singles and doubles against Marquette… His No. 10 Mountain Region ranking is the highest of four Grizzlies to earn a regional ranking above Big Sky MVP Ed Pudney, who finished No. 14 after his senior season in 2022, Victor Casadevall who was No. 19 in 2018, and Jan Steenkamp who was No. 18 in 2003… Also a star in the classroom, pulling off a perfect 4.0 GPA and being named this year's co-recipient of UM's President's Award that goes to the male and female student-athletes who achieved the highest undergraduate GPA in Grizzly Athletics over the previous two semesters… Helped lead Montana to a No. 8 Mountain Region ranking – the highest finish in program history.

2022/23 (Fr.)
• All-Big Sky Doubles Honorable Mention
• ITA Scholar Athlete
• Academic All-Big Sky
Combined late in the season with Gustav Theilgaard to find immediate success in doubles with a 4-1 overall record together and an undefeated 3-0 mark in conference play… The pair's 4-1 overall record was the third-best win percentage in the Big Sky at .800. Went 7-10 in singles his first season of college tennis, primarily playing on courts one and two… Had UM’s third-most doubles wins at 10-5 overall.

High School: Was the No. 1-ranked age-grade player in Bavaria and the No. 7-ranked age-grade player in Germany… He also ranked No. 230 among all male players of any age in Germany…. Advanced to the quarterfinal round of the DTB Premium Tour A3 men's event in 2021 and the round of 16 at the A2 men's event in the same year… Advanced to the round of 16 in a pair of U-16 Tennis Europe tournaments and reached a doubles semifinal in a U-16 tournament in his hometown of Augsburg…. In 2018 he took third at the German High School championships in singles… Placed second in the same tourney in doubles in 2017… A three-time winner of the Iphitos Youth Cup and a two-time winner of the Sport Scheck Munich Open… Also won the Swabian Championship in six of seven years.

Personal: Hails from the Bavaria region of Germany, also home to former Grizzly Moritz Stoeger and former UM All-Big Sky No. 1 Yannick Schmidl… Parents are Heike and Bernd Bittner of Neusaess.