Cold Showers, Skydiving And A Little Help From Novak

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American Aleksandar Kovacevic began taking part in tennis in a novel approach.

The 24-year-old, who was born in New York Metropolis, grew up studying to play tennis on the iconic Central Park.

“I used to be born and raised on the Higher West Aspect in New York and skilled at John McEnroe’s Academy for some time,” Kovacevic stated. “We lived at 97th and Central Park West, proper on the park. My dad and mom would go on the weekend to hit on the courts and I went with them. It was a 5 minute stroll from our residence. It’s a cool method to begin for certain. I by no means actually appreciated that till I bought older.”

Due to his dad and mom, Milan and Milanka, who had been each desk tennis professionals, Kovacevic started his journey in the direction of making a profession in his personal proper as a professional athlete.

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In July, Kovacevic reached his maiden ATP Challenger Tour closing in Indianapolis, Indiana, the place he relinquished six championship factors to China’s Wu Yibing, who prevailed 6-7(10), 7-6(13), 6-3. Within the semi-finals, Kovacevic beat #NextGenATP star Ben Shelton, who had reached the ultimate on the Rome (Georgia) Challenger the earlier week.

Kovacevic, who was ranked outdoors the Prime 350 initially of this season, additionally reached the semi-finals on the Little Rock and Lexington Challengers this summer season.

Now within the semi-finals on the ATP 250 occasion in Seoul, the place Kovacevic has upset three Prime-100 gamers (Kecmanovic, Tseng, McDonald), the teenager is at a career-high mark 166 within the Pepperstone ATP Stay Rankings.

Earlier than Kovacevic turned skilled in 2021, he had a standout collegiate profession on the College of Illinois, the place he was a two-time ITA All American and graduated with a Bachelor’s diploma in finance.

“In March 2021, I performed the Cleveland Challenger and went from qualies to the semi-finals,” Kovacevic stated. “I knew it was my time to show professional. My dad needed to persuade me, as a result of I used to be ranked 700 at the moment, however I’m pleased I did.”

When Kovacevic made his Grand Slam qualifying debut on the 2021 US Open, he superior to the ultimate spherical earlier than falling quick to Argentine Marco Trungelliti. The next day, the American was set to do some stretching on the health club when a well-recognized face invited him to tag alongside for a health session: Novak Djokovic.

Kovacevic’s father, Milan, is Serbian and his mom hails from Bosnia. When ‘Aleks’ was youthful, the household would take an annual journey to Serbia. When Kovacevic met Djokovic at Flushing Meadows, he dismissed the rust of his Serbian-speaking talents to speak with the 21-time main champion.

“My closing spherical qualifying match in opposition to Trungelliti, I had seven or eight match factors. It was one of the heartbreaking losses I’ve ever had. The following day, after I was within the health club, Novak instructed me he heard about my match and requested if I needed to affix his health session.

“I used to be shocked. He was chasing historical past that week and didn’t have to present me his time. It was an unimaginable expertise. On the finish, Novak instructed me that I’ve bought a brilliant future and I ought to practice with him in Serbia.”

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At coronary heart, Kovacevic is an adrenaline junkie. Whether or not it’s snowboarding, jet snowboarding, or skydiving, he’s prepared for a thrill. He credit his perspective of getting outdoors of his consolation zone as a part of why he’s discovered success on the court docket.

“I reside by the philosophy that if I do one factor day by day that makes me uncomfortable, it would make me a more durable individual in life,” Kovacevic stated. “I take chilly showers within the morning. These issues sharpen you as an individual. It makes you stronger on the court docket once you face adversity on the market.

“In school, we performed the primary spherical of the NCAA Event in Oklahoma and after we gained, our coach [Brad Dancer] pulled the van round and instructed us to get in. He instructed us that we had been going to get our present from a booster, which we obtained yearly. He instructed us to not put up something on social media or name our dad and mom till after we get the present.

“We bought to a small airport with a skydiving signal. I stated, ‘No approach!’. I wasn’t going. A number of of us stayed on the bottom, however after three hours, we lastly determined to go. It was truthfully probably the greatest moments of my life. Normally it’s 10,000 ft however this place had clearance to do 15,000 ft. It was a minute straight freefall. It bought us unfastened for the matches the subsequent day for certain.”

Kovacevic, who now lives and trains in Boca Raton, Florida, will subsequent play Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka within the semi-finals of the Eugene Korea Open Tennis Championships.