Newcomer finding success quickly

By NANCY MORGAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 16, 2000

Tennis is a top priority for Goran Dragicevic now that he's in the United States.

Dragicevic and his family left Bosnia about eight years ago to live in Germany. When Bosnian refugees were forced to leave Germany last year, the family joined an uncle in New Port Richey.

According to Krishnan Anandan, who has been his coach for the past eight months, Dragicevic is a rare find.

"This kid is very good," said Anandan, who is the head teaching professional for the city of Clearwater. "He's the best I've seen in quite some time. I would guess that he's among the top two or three in the state his division."

Dragicevic, 16, has won six state-sanctioned junior singles tournaments since his arrival. He also won a men's open singles tournament in Orlando and reached the semifinal round in two others.

"I first started tennis when I was about 5 years old and my dad taught me," Dragicevic said. "When we moved to Germany, I went to the Niki Pilic Tennis Academy. I was there about eight years."

Pilic has served as the captain of Germany's Davis Cup team.

When Pilic learned that Dragicevic was moving to Florida, he suggested training at Saddlebrook in Wesley Chapel or with Anandan in Clearwater.

"Goran has all the shots and is very smart on the court," Anandan said. "He moves well, rarely over hits and seldom gives his opponents any free points."

Dragicevic describes his game as one transcending from the baseline to an aggressive serve and volley game.

After improving his serve and forehand groundstroke, Dragicevic is more confident about playing a more offensive game, as opposed to a defensive one primarily from the baseline.

"I used to play mostly from the baseline, but I am coming in to the net more now," Dragicevic said. "It's easier to come to the net when your serve is more effective."

Dragicevic attended Ridgewood High last year. This year, the teenager is devoting his full time to tennis. If the results are positive, Dragicevic will continue. If not, he will return to school.

"I want to give it a try," Dragicevic said of his tennis pursuit.

Dragicevic admires professional Pete Sampras, but his favorite player is Gustavo Kuerton of Brazil. Dragicevic just hopes his play can be compared to either one of them at some point.

In an attempt to challenge himself, Dragicevic entered the Adult Summer Classic at Royal Racquet Club in Clearwater last week. As the top seed in a field of 31 in the men's open, he would possibly face players such as No. 3 seed Dave Hogle of Bradenton, New Zealand's James Bloor, sparring partner Daigo Sakurai of Oldsmar and second-seed Reinaldo Valor of Clearwater. Unfortunately, inclement weather forced the cancellation of the sanctioned competition.

Later this month, Dragicevic and his father, Drago, a tennis teaching professional in Clearwater, will travel to the Bahamas before making a trip to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica to compete in several Futures tournaments offered for aspiring professionals.

Juniors at nationals: No. 2 seed Alexandria Liles of Largo and No. 17 seed Stacia Fonseca of Lutz reached the round of 16 in the girls 16s at last week's USTA Hard Court National Championships. In the girls 18s, third-seed Kelly McCain of Wesley Chapel advanced to the round of 32 from a field of 256 players.

No. 12 seed Sukhwa Young of Wesley Chapel advanced to the round of 16 in the boys 16s before falling to fifth-seed Brian Baker of Tennessee. Young then paired with Baker and advanced to the doubles semifinal as the fifth-seeded team among 96 teams. In their semifinal match, Young and Baker lost 6-3, 6-1 to the top-seeded team of Rajeev Ram of Indiana and Jonathan Stokke of North Carolina. Ram and Stokke went on to win the doubles and Ram won the national singles title.

Uda Yuichi of Wesley Chapel played to the round of 32 in the boys 14s.

State adult team champions: Four area teams competed in last weekend's USA League Tennis Adult Team State Championships in Orlando. Two teams finished first in their respective divisions and qualified for the national championships this fall.

Among the six women's and six men's teams crowned state champions were Feather Sound Country Club's 3.0 men's team and the Treasure Island Recreation, Tennis and Golf Center's 4.5 men's team. Also competing were East Lake Woodlands Country Club's 3.0 women's team and the Renaissance Vinoy's 5.5 men's team.

Adult state closed: Jose Campos of Lutz defended his men's 30-and-over top seeding and won the Florida State Closed Championship held in Boynton Beach earlier this month. Tampa's Tish Rowe was runner-up in the women's 50s and Clearwater's Bill Christensen advanced to the quarterfinal round in the men's 50s.

In the men's 30s final, Campos outplayed second-seed Bruce Kurtz of Coconut Creek to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and second-seed Rowe fell in the women's final to No. 1 seed Gwenda Tanner-Ward of Ocala 6-0, 6-1.

In St. Petersburg: Competing in the rain-delayed, state-sanctioned Super Series tournament at the St. Petersburg Tennis Center are: Marielle Wallin of New Port Richey and Brenda Peynado of Lutz in the girls 18s; Yumi Hasewaga of Wesley Chapel in the girls 14s; Zoe Kent of Valrico in the girls 12s; Dilip Kamath of Lutz in the boys 12s; Arjun Parasher of Lutz and Marc Spcijaric of Wesley Chapel in the boys 16s.

In all, 50 girls and 90 boys entered the SPTC Super Series. Singles competition was to be completed Monday.

Coming up: Tampa Palms Tennis and Athletic Club hosts its Junior Summertime Classic Aug. 19-21 in singles competition for those 18 and under. Call tournament director Jonathan Clark at (813) 632-1676 ... The Train Smart Family Championships are Sept. 9-11 at Arbor Green in Tampa. For more information, call Alan Williams at (813) 962-4253.

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