Q & A With Katarina Gajic
April 08, 2011 | Women's Tennis
April 8, 2011
Katarina Gajic is a junior on the Boston College women's tennis team. This year's squad has earned the highest ranking in program history and is making noise in the ACC. Two weeks ago, Gajic completed an upset of the 10th-ranked player in the nation - another monumental step in Eagles history. We caught up with Katarina to discuss the game she loves.
What is your first memory of tennis?
"It's really strange, but I remember the first time I picked up a racket. My parents took me to a clinic and I couldn't hit a single ball. There was a kid there that was so much better than me and I wanted to be better than he was, so I kept playing."
Did your parents encourage you to try other sports?
"My family is from Serbia, so my mom played basketball for the national and junior national team and my dad played all kinds of sports. When you're young, your parents kind of decide what sports you'll try, so they brought me to try tennis and the rest is history. Growing up my parents wanted to me to try all types of sports - and I did - but I wound up specializing in tennis."
What is your favorite thing about tennis?
"It's one of the only sports where you are really by yourself, which may not sound great, but when you're out there on the courts it's all up to you. You have a coach and teammates that cheer for your and give you advice, but it's one versus one and you can't sub yourself out if you're playing poorly. I like that when you win it's because you did well and when you lose you have to accept responsibility for it."
What about playing doubles with Katharine Attwell?
(Laughs) "Kat and I are a special situation. Playing with her is one of my favorite things. We get along really well and are very close friends off the tennis court, which I think shines through and allows us to have a really good chemistry in our matches. We don't take ourselves too seriously, which keeps us relaxed and prevents pressure from getting to us. I really like playing with Katharine."
Do you prefer singles or doubles?
"Not really. Growing up, I preferred singles, but after coming here after playing so many doubles matches I've learned to like it. In college, we have stable partners so you get to know her, her moves and anticipate where she's going be. When you're younger, people usually just grab anyone available to play and there's no chemistry with them."
If you could play one match against anyone who would it be?
"I want to play against Marat Safin, because I think we're very alike. He's Russian and was always the type of player who could just go out and beat anyone. At one point, he was probably the only person who could be Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in their time. He is one of those extremely talented people, so I think I would enjoy the challenge of competing against him."
Do you prepare for a match in a certain way?
"I listen to pump up music. More so than that, I like to joke around with my teammates, get loose and not over think what I'm about to do. I never warmed up when I was little - which was a horrible decision (laughs) - but now I go through an hour long warm-up routine."
We play in the toughest conference in the country. What has your ACC experience been like?
"Like everything, there are pros and cons. Some pros are getting to go up against the best players in the country every day. A con would be having the losses come more often than they would if we played in a lesser conference. I love it, because I'm really competitive. You can't regard those players so highly in your mind that you psych yourself out. Play the way you play and give them a hard time."
Speaking of playing your game, you recently defeated the 10th ranked player in the country, Duke's Reka Zsilinska. Can you take me through that match?
"I didn't think a lot during that match. I lost to her last year after only winning one game. I learned from that match that I did the absolute wrong thing, so this season I broke her down, figured out what her weaknesses were and made her play them. Going into the first set I had her figured out. I won that, 6-4, but she came back angry in the second. She went up three games and I came back to tie. I don't really know what happened, but she won the second set, 6-3. She went up in tiebreaker, but I pulled it out. There were a lot of ups and downs, but I knew what I had to do to beat her."
What is the pressure of a tiebreaker like?
"I guess you get nervous, but I think you kind of just black out. You can't think of it as a final-set tiebreaker. If you get tentative, you'll choke."
The team has been nationally ranked most of the season, reaching the program's highest-ever spot at No. 36. In the latest singles poll, you're also ranked at No. 113. What does that mean to you?
"It's more important to me that we are nationally ranked as a team. If we are going to make it to the NCAA tournament it will be because we did it together. All the competition we have makes it tough, but it also provides us with a lot of incredible opportunities. We almost beat [No. 12] Clemson. If you're in any other conference, your team doesn't get the chance to upset top 10 schools. We've done so much better this year than we ever have and we still have five matches left. When we finally break through and beat one, we will be locked in. It's exciting to know the opportunity is there. As for my personal ranking, it's cool. I'm enjoying the season and this is definitely my favorite team to be a part of so far. I guess if I'm happy I play better."
What is the dynamic like?
"It's great. Having four sophomores gives us a good core group. I was the only freshman at one point on a team with five seniors, which made things different. We spend a lot more time together this year and our friendship continues to grow."
