For tennis, UCLA is the place to be
Muskatirovic balances school, competition in bid for net
success
By Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Contributor
It’s been hard for Srdjan Muskatirovic to stay in one place for
a very long time, for as the saying goes, have gun will travel. In
Muskatirovic’s case, that gun is a tennis racket and it has given
him a meal ticket that has been punched in many ports of call.
From Belgrade to France to Miami, tennis has carried
Muskatirovic, a senior on the second-ranked UCLA tennis team,
across the globe and to a level of play that few are able to
achieve.
And now, in his final year of collegiate tennis, he has made his
final move. Before this season began, he moved from the Florida
sand to the hills of Westwood in search of the final gem in his
amateur career, an NCAA Championship.
Tennis has always been the one thing pushing Muskatirovic
forward into the unknown. As a boy, he would follow his father to a
tennis club in Belgrade, his hometown in the former Yugoslavia,
where he got his first taste of the game.
"He would take me to the tennis courts and just leave me there
so that he could play," Muskatirovic said.
Muskatirovic is not one to let opportunity pass him by, and soon
he was in a tennis academy, working out every day after school.
Excellence came soon after, as he joined the national team at 15
and played in the Youth World Cup. He also began to realize just
how good he was becoming.
"This was when people who I thought were top junior players, I
started beating them," Muskatirovic said. "It happened more than
once."
Soon after, Muskatirovic joined the then-Yugoslavian Davis Cup
team and began working out with the likes of Slobodan Zivojinovic
and Goran Ivanisevic, both of whom are or were ranked in the top 10
in the world.
"Of course I was sitting on the bench because these are top 10
guys," Muskatirovic said. "That was a great experience and I
realized that I wanted to play more tennis than two hours a day
after school."
All this time, however, Muskatirovic kept up his academic
standing under the watchful eye of his father, an influence that
would play a significant role later in his life.
"My father was very strict with school," Muskatirovic said. "If
it was between tennis or school, it was school."
The next move in this epic tennis journey carried Muskatirovic
to France after he finished high school. At an academy in Nice,
Muskatirovic was able to pit himself against the best of the
European youth players without the concerns of academia.
"I was just lucky to have the chance to live in France and
practice," Muskatirovic said. "It was fantastic."
Even in this situation, utopia had not been reached and a new
challenge arose. Also attending the academy was Dean Cohen, a
member of the men’s program at the University of Miami, who
suggested that Muskatirovic move on and test the American amateur
ranks.
"He told me about the tennis program at Miami, about the coach,
the guys, everybody," Muskatirovic said. "I just said, ‘Hey I would
love it.’"
For Muskatirovic, who was unsure about his life after tennis,
this was the ultimate opportunity. His father, who got his master’s
degree from Stanford, was quick to encourage this next move.
"He was always telling me I should go there (the United
States)," Muskatirovic said. "He built up the idea in my head that
the United States was a great place to build up my studies and play
tennis."
After all of his traveling in his formative years, culture shock
would not be a problem. The only significant surprise in store was
to be the quality of the American amateur ranks. After working out
with professionals in France for some time, Muskatirovic did not
expect the level of play to be such a tough test.
"It was harder than I thought it would be," Muskatirovic said.
"I realized there were a lot of guys playing good tennis when we
started playing dual matches."
This intense competition spurred Muskatirovic to an entirely new
level of excellence as he was named an All-American in both singles
and doubles last season for the 11th-ranked Hurricanes. So this new
dominance – combined with the sun, the people and the place – would
finally keep Muskatirovic in one place, right?
Nope.
Muskatirovic’s desire for a fresh challenge makes him the tennis
player he is, but also drives him forward. He had conquered Europe
and the eastern seaboard, but now it was time for him to go in
search of unvanquished personal territory. True to his father’s
insistences when he was a boy, Muskatirovic went after an academic
challenge.
"Everybody knows UCLA, even in France," Muskatirovic said. "You
say UCLA, they know where it is. They know what it is and they
respect it a lot. UCLA has a great tradition."
With a talent like his on the market, a number of schools tried
to get Muskatirovic to join their ranks. But he didn’t give another
school a second look.
"I felt bad, but I said, ‘Hey the only school I’m interested in
is UCLA,’" Muskatirovic said. "I’m not leaving Miami because I’m
not happy there. I’m leaving because I think UCLA would be even
better."
For UCLA head coach Billy Martin and the Bruin team, having a
talent like this just show up on your doorstep was like a gift from
God. UCLA was coming off of its fourth straight final-four berth at
the NCAA Championships, and needed an infusion of talent to push
them one level further to the championship.
"We had a great reaction because he’s such a good player,"
Martin said. "It’s unbelievable. It was great for our chances to
win a national championship and to have a guy like that on our team
is just fantastic."
True to his billing, Muskatirovic has not disappointed. He
quickly settled into the number two position for the Bruins this
season, where he has gone undefeated without losing a set in
dual-match play. With his personal success and the success of the
team as a whole, Muskatirovic’s dream of winning a national
championship before he moves on to a professional tennis career
grows closer and closer to fruition.
"I realize that we have a very good chance of winning right
now," Muskatirovic said. "Of course, after three years of college
tennis, that’s one of the best things that I can imagine."
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Netter Srdjan Muskatirovic has become part of the Bruin team
with a shot at a national title.
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