FIU tennis enjoys its international athlete mix

Steven Rowell/contributing writer

The players on the tennis team put the “international” in Florida International University.

Out of the nine players on the roster, all but two players hail from outside the United States, marking it as the most international team in FIU. Two walk-on freshmen, Michelle Sabado and Natalie Navarro, make up the domestic portion of the roster. The internationally dominant roster has been welcomed by the players.

“It was pretty much why I came here,” senior Magali Holt said. “Every player that comes from a different part of the world has their own ability. If you have a person from Latin America, they usually have a very high spin ball, and so every player has their own style and it makes us more difficult to play against because you never know what you’re going to get.”

untitled-39When transitioning into FIU, some of the players had to change their mindset when it comes to competitiveness.

One of the differences senior Rita Maisak noticed between playing in the U.S. and in her native Belarus was the emphasis on playing for the team as opposed to herself.
Holt echoed the same thoughts.

“Every player has to adjust to make sure that you do what’s better for the team, rather than yourself,” Holt said. “In Canada, it is more competitive because you are playing for yourself, and you are trying to make a name for yourself.”
Out of the non-domestic players, the diversity is present. Even though six players are European, no two players come from the same country. Holt, a Canadian, is the only non-European foreign player.

“During my freshman year, when I came on my official visit, there were people from everywhere,” Holt said. “I’m pretty much used to only being with Canadians and Quebecers, so coming here and seeing all these different cultures is pretty cool.”

Head Coach Katarina Petrovic, a native of Serbia, is not in unfamiliar territory when surrounded by international players. Petrovic had her share of international players during her tenure at South Carolina. In her last year at USC, more than half her team was from outside the U.S.

When Petrovic is not coaching matches or having practices, the head coach is working on recruiting. That includes the pursuit of players from outside American soil which poses it’s own set of challenges.

“It is really tough to get a top American student-athlete to commit to our university, and in order for us to do that we have to win matches and get back in the rankings,” Petrovic said. “International recruiting is three times more hard than domestic girls because we have to worry about amateurism, high school credits, and SAT requirements that FIU has.  Recruiting isn’t just a nine to five job. It’s a 24/7 kind of job.”

Petrovic recounts times she has to wake up in the middle of the night to speak with recruits and parents. Earlier this month, she spoke to a mother of a recruit on the phone for two hours to set up an official visit.

“That’s the beauty of recruiting,” Petrovic said. “You might have to wake up in the middle of the night to make a call to China.”
Petrovic has welcomed the idea of being a team represented by players from different countries. However, eventually the she’d like to have a team that is more Americanized.

“The easiest job for each coach is to recruit domestic kids, based on compliance and all other issues. I will be more than happy to have all American girls on the team if possible,” Petrovic said. “And still win.”