Making a Habit of Winning

Fresno State freshman Jelena Pandzic heads into the WAC tournament with a 19-1 record and a No. 16 ranking nationally

By Beth Warmerdam

For the first time in her Fresno State tennis career, Jelena Pandzic lost.

The freshman, who plays No. 1 singles for the women’s tennis team, went into the match against Sacramento State ranked 12th nationally, and with an 18-0 record.

She lost in straight sets to No. 78 Margarita Karnaukhova, 7-5, 6-1. This was perhaps the biggest surprise and biggest heartbreak of the match, which the Bulldogs lost 6-1, because Pandzic had previously only lost one set the whole season.

Pandzic is used to stiff competition.

Long before joining the Fresno State team, she was competing with athletes such as Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne. Pandzic played junior’s tennis in Europe and boasts a win over Daniela Hantuchova, a Slovakian who has been ranked as high as eighth in the world in professional women’s tennis.

In 1996, Pandzic and Henin-Hardenne (then only Henin) were selected as the top European tennis players of the year under the age of 14. Henin-Hardenne was ranked No. 1, while Pandzic was No. 3. In 1997, now second-ranked professional player Clijsters was No. 2 on the same list. Pandzic and Clijsters won tournaments playing doubles together in Europe.

Pandzic said she played twice in junior tournaments against Henin-Hardenne, who is currently ranked as the top professional player in the world.

Pandzic lost both times in three sets.

At this rate, Pandzic just might join the aforementioned competition in the pros in the coming years.

“ I’m considering that. It’s not something that I’m against for sure.”

Pandzic came to Fresno from Croatia in the fall, but was ineligible to practice with the team until this semester. Simon Thibodeau, Fresno State’s interim coach, said Pandzic has improved a lot since the beginning of the year.

Thibodeau said that the key to Pandzic’s game is her balance, consistency and good mental game.

“ Mentally, she doesn’t show signs of emotion. She’s like a robot,” he said. “She wears her opponents down. She can play many good points in a row, and the other girls crack.”

One of the biggest matches of the season, Pandzic said, was against California in Berkeley on Feb. 21. She defeated then second-ranked Fresno native Raquel Kops-Jones 6-3, 6-2. Kops-Jones was at one point No. 1 in the nation, but moved down to No. 4 in the April 6th ITA rankings.

“I expected Jelena to be top 20 for sure,” Thibodeau said. “She beat this year’s No. 1 and the national champ from last year very easily—both of them in less than an hour. She belongs in the top five, top three, maybe even at number one.”

Although Pandzic has always focused on singles, she said that coming to Fresno State has given her a chance to practice and improve her doubles play. She and her partner, Lucia Tallo, have won 15 out of 17 matches, losing their only two to Stanford and UCLA.

The duo is ranked 22nd nationally.

In the latest team rankings, Fresno State moved to No. 15 after its loss to then-No. 38 Sacramento State.

The team starts WAC tournament play on Friday in Houston.

“ Our top six can really play, they’re very good,” said Thibodeau, whose goal for the team is to make it to the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. The team is still the highest ranked team in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Bulldogs beat then-No. 53 Pacific to finish the regular season with a 9-0 home record.

And Pandzic went back to doing what she had been most of the season—winning—to finish with a 19-1 record.