By John Geilfuss
Nikola Djordjevic is doing everything he can to bring the Pride tennis team to new levels. Last year, Djordjevic became the first Pride player ever to be nationally ranked and also the first to ever win the CAA Rookie of the Year award.
Djordjevic won the award by posting a team-best 21-3 record overall, which included an 11-1 mark in dual matches. Djordjevic described winning the award as a great honor and considered it to be one of his most memorable moments while playing for the Pride.
Djordjevic began playing tennis at the young age of seven while still in his hometown of Belgrade, Serbia. In high school he played four years of tennis at XI Beogredska Gimnazija and led his team to the 2002 Yugoslav championship. He was named best player in each of those four seasons. Djordjevic decided to join the Pride after a friend of his told him about coach Bill Gerdts. Gerdts then contacted Djordjevic and he was soon fulfilling his goal of coming to the United States to play tennis.
In the fall Djordjevic posted a 14-2 mark, which included a 4-0 record in dual matches at first singles. This season Djordjevic is 1-1 and he hopes only to improve. “My individual goal is to win every time I go out, but mainly I just want to get better and see my game improve,” Djordjevic said.
The loss was his first since Oct. 19 of last year and came against Nick Goldberg of Brown University. “The Brown loss was very tough and one I took personally. I’ve looked at my mistakes and feel that I have the talent to beat them,” Djordjevic said. Djordjevic is also part of the Pride’s top doubles team, alongside with junior Rodrigo Teixeira. The pair went 7-3 during the fall season.
Despite the tough loss to Brown, Djordjevic sees only good things coming for the Pride. He feels very excited about the rest of the season and expects even better things to come in the future. Djordjevic is especially excited about one of the recruits next season. Djordjevic’s younger brother Luka will be joining him on the courts next season as one of the Pride’s top recruits.
As the season continues fans can only expect Djordjevic’s game to keep improving. His coaches and teammates are impressed by his work ethic and devotion to the game. Djordjevic hopes that all the hard work he puts in at practice and the experience he has gotten under coach Gerdts will one day enable him to become one of the top players in the nation and help him go on to a professional career in tennis.
Despite the teams sub-par performance against No. 49 Brown, it returns to action on March 6 when it squares off against Yale University and Fairfield University at the Yale University Indoor Courts.