JERSEY CITY, NJ – Carlos Carrera came to the United States of America in 2012 with a dream to play Division I men's tennis and one day, professional tennis. A native of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador and highest official capital city in the world, Carrera competed nationally and internationally as a junior in his native land. He achieved the top of the regional and national rank, and a highest junior international ranking (ITF) of 732. At the professional level, Carrera has played in a few Future Tournaments in Ecuador and the Challenger of Quito. In his last tournament, he lost to Juan Sebastian Gomez, from Colombia, who was ranked #1 in the world in juniors and currently ranked 497 in the ATP, in a very close match (0-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6).
"Tennis has given me one of the best opportunities in my whole life, which was acquiring a scholarship to compete in the NCAA Division I for Saint Peter's University," said Carrera. "I played #3 singles and #2 doubles my freshman year, obtaining 2011-2012 All MAAC Third Singles honors. I played at #1 singles and #1 doubles for the rest of my college career, with positive winning records every season. In addition, I competed for the Peacocks at the USTA/ITA Northeast Regionals for 3 years in a row and I was named captain my senior year."
Carrera graduated in May 2015, with Bachelor's in Accounting and minor in International Business and Trade. He graduated with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.80, obtaining Summa Cum Laude and the Scholar Athlete of the Year Award for highest GPA among male student athletes. Upon graduation, Carrera struggled finding a job due to lack of experience, which was due to his dedication to being a student-athlete, as well as his immigrant status.
As a result, Carrera decided to take part in a local role as Regional Tennis Coordinator and Instructor for a tennis services provider in Jersey City, called TennisApproach.net. Through this job, he was selected to be part of the very first Hispanic Coaches Initiative (HIC), hosted by the USTA. The HIC was a professional development opportunity for ambitious coaches who are passionate about teaching the game and interested in helping the section promote and develop the growth of tennis throughout local Hispanic communities. One of the components of the HIC was a Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) Coaches Workshop at Riverside Clay Tennis Association (RCTA), in Manhattan. RCTA saw Carrera's passion and love for the game, as well as his skills as a coach, and offered him a full time position.
With his F1 Student Visa status as a student due to expire on August 31st, and the possibility of Carrera being deported back to Ecuador, the RCTA offered him a sponsorship for a P-1A Visa for Internationally Recognized Athletes. The sponsorship would allow Carrera to stay in the United States playing professional tennis and coaching for the next five years.
"The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services recently approved my P1-A Visa. I am probably one of the first Ecuadorean tennis players and Saint Peter's Alumni to obtain this visa," added Carrera. "Therefore, I thought I would share the big news. With this visa, I am able to stay in the United States of America coaching and playing professionally for the next five years. The visa requires me to play a minimum of 10 professional tournaments a year. However, I personally do not see this as a requirement, but as an opportunity that I have always wanted in fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing professional tennis."
Carrera currently lives on Fairmount Avenue, just one block away from Saint Peter's and still works at RCTA. He has most recently taken a position as a Voluntary Assistant Coach for the Saint Peter's University men's and women's tennis teams. Carrera is scheduled to play at his first professional tournaments in Florida during January and February, as part of his sponsorship agreement requirements.
"I have started my training activities and played an open tournament a couple of weeks ago at the Prospect Park Open, in Brooklyn, New York, obtaining first place," Carrera explained. "The remainder of the year, I plan to play a couple of professional and open tournaments in Ecuador as part of my preparation stage. I will be playing the, Ecuador F2 Future – Quito, and Ecuador F3 Future – Salinas, in October; and the III Open Tournament - Copa Ambato Diners Club, and the Challenger of Guayaquil, in November; this last one part of the ATP Challenger Tour."
To learn more about the P-1A Internationally Recognized Athlete sponsorship that Carrera has obtained, visit https://www.uscis.gov.
