KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan men's tennis head coach Dave Morin has announced the signing of Simon Blomberg to a National Letter of Intent. Blomberg joins Mike Basha (Fort Gratiot, Mich./Port Huron Northern) and Thomas Calderone (Grass Lake, Mich./Jackson Lumen Christi) in the Broncos' 2009 signing class.

Blomberg, a native of Nykoping, Sweden (approximately 60 miles southwest of Stockholm), currently trains at the Ferrer-Peinado Tennis Academy in Javea, Spain (just under 300 miles southeast of Madrid on the Meditarranean coast). He has been training at the academy that produced ATP pro and former No. 4 in the world David Ferrer since the summer of 2005. Blomberg began training full-time under Ferrer's former coach Mariano Peinado and Ferrer's brother and former ATP professional Javier Ferrer in March 2008.

"I believe Simon has a chance to be one of our all-time great tennis players," Morin said. "He's being exposed to a level of tennis that few of our freshmen experience until getting to Western Michigan. I think that prepares him well to challenge Michael Calderone and Kazuya Komada for the top position next season and for the rigors of playing high in the lineup against our national-caliber schedule. Aside from that, he's also a great kid and will be fun to work with and fit in well with the rest of our team." 

The six-foot Blomberg has experienced increasing levels of success in Spain with victories in July 2007 at the U21 Torneo Nacional, the June 2008 U18 Chocolates Valor and the Sept. 2008 Men's Tournament Circuit Absolut. During those tournaments and more, Blomberg has defeated numerous players ranked throughout the top-100 in Spain's national men's rankings.

In Sweden, Blomberg has been ranked as high as No. 10 in the country and tops in his district in his age group, while defeating several of his fellow top-10 players. He has recently been competing on the Swedish Winter Tour where he consistently reaches the quarters and semifinals.