From Tokyo to Lehigh: How family, friendship and tennis shaped Kosei Ogata

“Tennis or golf?”

At 10 years old, Kosei Ogata and his younger brother Somei sat together in their Saratoga, California, living room as their father gave them exactly two sports to choose from.

“Basketball,” said Kosei confidently. 

His brother chose football.

“No, tennis,” their father said.

And so it was decided. 

Eight years later, that decision has taken Kosei Ogata from Tokyo to California to the Lehigh men’s tennis team, where the first-year has gone 7-5 in singles and 9-6 in doubles while helping Lehigh finish 6-1 in Patriot League play.

But before daily tennis practices, national rankings and college recruiting, Ogata was a karate student in Tokyo.

He started the martial art at 4 years old. By 6, he and his brother were walking to the dojo on their own, and by 7, he was nationally ranked. 

“Karate definitely shaped me more as a person — (I’m) very disciplined — and I think that was also the reason why my dad put me into karate,” he said. “Looking back, it feels like my dad had a plan for everything. It’s a lot more than just a sport. The way you act when you’re there, it teaches you respect.”

Ogata said if his family had stayed in Japan, karate would have remained his main sport.

But that changed when they moved to California. 

Without a dojo, Ogata had to find something new. At an all-sports summer camp, he tried everything from golf to basketball — and quickly gravitated toward basketball.

“We played during recess,” he said. “But also (since) my parents wanted me to learn English quicker, my mom put me into an after school care program where I would stay and hang out with kids from 3 to 7, and we would play basketball all day long.”

Even as basketball became his passion, tennis never fully went away. 

Every afternoon at 3 p.m., Ogata’s father brought his siblings and him to the tennis courts, building a routine that eventually helped shape him into a four-star recruit, a former top-30 national player and runner-up at the USTA Level 1 Indoor Championships in U18 doubles in Overland Park, Kansas. 

Still, he came into that success with some begrudgement. 

“Now, I think my relationship with my dad and tennis is way better, but if I’m being honest, there was a time where I absolutely hated tennis and I absolutely hated going to practice, and I despised it because he and I would fight a lot,” he said.

Before joining Eagle Fustar Tennis Academy, Ogata’s father served as his primary coach. Even after he joined the academy, his father continued coaching alongside academy instructors. 

While that dynamic was difficult at times, Ogata said it ultimately brought them closer.

At Fustar, Ogata said the relationships he built became just as important as the training. 

When Ogata was 8 and Julien Simonian was 10, the two met at a tournament. 

He also met academy teammates Arnav Bhandari and Vidyuth Anand through junior tennis.

Simonian said their friendship became more like family over the years. 

“I think our friendship is like a brotherhood,” Simonian said. “He has many siblings, but I don’t have any. So it was kind of like a younger brother relationship because I was integrated into his family, with family events and trips.” 

And Ogata said it was Anand, in particular, who helped change the way he viewed tennis.

“He wanted me to be better in every way, so he really made me reevaluate everything in my life, and that’s when I started viewing tennis as important,” he said.

For the first time, Ogata said his motivation shifted from trying to improve for his father to genuinely wanting to improve for himself. 

That shift — along with years of weekday practices, long weekend sessions and thousands of hours on the court — eventually led him to Lehigh. 

Lehigh coach Craig Schwartz said Ogata stood out early in the recruiting process, not because of one standout skill, but because of how complete his game was already. 

“By talking to him in the recruiting process, I really liked his mindset and wanted to maximize his potential in college and see where he can take his game,” he said. 

At Lehigh, Ogata said the biggest adjustment has been embracing a team-first mentality. 

On a small roster made up of players from places including Canada, Spain and Brazil, he said college tennis has taught him to think beyond himself — whether that’s supporting teammates from the sidelines, learning from upperclassmen or preparing to one day lead by example. 

“It’s team-first all the time, that’s what we focus on,” Ogata said. “Everything you do on and around the court has to be for the team. Even if you’re not playing, you’re on the sidelines, you’re cheering for the team. (It’s about) having a bigger purpose than yourself.”

Schwartz said that mindset, combined with the discipline Ogata shows in training, competition and academics, has already made him someone he believes can eventually help lead the program. 

“He’s a guy (who’s) already shown by example on what he does on and off the court, how he takes care of himself — his body, academics,” he said. “I could see him being a leader for the program in the future.”

For Ogata, the sport he once didn’t choose has become the one he now chooses for himself.