by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
UNM tennis players Iva Gersic and Maja Kovacek are the No. 3-ranked doubles team in the country.
However, their success and friendship dates back to when neither had set foot in this country.
Kovacek, a senior, came to UNM from Croatia on a scholarship for the 2002-2003 season. She said the adjustment of coming to a new country was not easy. Then she heard that a longtime friend and fellow Croatian was thinking about attending UNM, too.
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Kovacek talked to Gersic about coming to New Mexico and playing tennis for the Lobos. Gersic said her conversation with Kovacek had a big impact on her decision to attend UNM.
"Maja came here a year before me," Gersic said. "She said that everything was so great and so nice, and since I knew Maja for more than 10 years, I decided to come here. It helped to have someone who I knew from before and who was my good friend from before."
Kovacek said she was excited to talk Gersic into becoming a Lobo.
"I loved my first year," Kovacek said. "I just told her how fun it was to play with this team and about how it was so highly competitive."
While both of them said adjusting to the English language was difficult when they got to New Mexico, they have been able to use their foreign language as an advantage in some cases while playing matches.
"What is easier for me is that we can use our own language," Gersic said. "What is really cool is when we are on the court and we want to do something, and we don't want the other team to know, we can talk in our language and they won't know what we're going to do. Some people have to use signs and be quiet, but we can just talk and no one will understand us."
The two have been honing their communication skills with each other for about a decade.
"We played our first doubles match when we were like 11," Gersic said. "It was really nice to have someone that I knew before, and that I could talk to in my language. Even though I had been here for a year, the language was tough at first. So it was nice to have someone from home come here."
The two Lobos have had a lot of individual success on the tennis courts, and coming into this season, both were ranked in the top-50 in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
But as good as they have been by themselves, they have seen much more success as a duo. Kovacek and Gersic's national ranking is the highest ranking in UNM women's tennis history.
Both players said their friendship and experience of playing as a team in Croatia contributes to their success on the courts here.
"You have to get along pretty well if you want to do well as a doubles team," Gersic said. "You have to understand each other and trust each other."
With this being Kovacek's senior season, the two know they have one last chance to play together as Lobos.
"We played well last year," Kovacek said. "We know we can do better. We just want to play consistent."
No matter how the season turns out, Kovacek said she has enjoyed her time playing with Gersic, and wants to have fun in her last season.
"It's been great all around," she said. "I think since this is my last year I'll be kind of sad, but it's just been great to have someone that I've known for so long and knows my background."
