Competitive on Court and in Class
Senior tennis player Lucia Tallo is one of the team leaders in singles and doubles
By JENNA NIELSEN
Senior tennis player Lucia Tallo is disciplined. She works hard in all areas of her life.
Whether it’s school, working out, practicing or playing an important match, Tallo is committed.
Lucia Tallo lived in three different countries before coming to Fresno State to play tennis. The senior, who knows six languages, has spent most of her career in the rankings. Photo by Emily Tuck |
Coach Simon Thibodeau knows how hard Tallo works for herself and the team.
“She’s the most competitive person I have ever met. She expects a lot from herself, so it shows with the others,” Thibodeau said.
Because she is so tough and demanding with herself, it helps push her teammates to do well, Thibodeau said.
Born in Slovakia, Tallo lived in three different countries before coming to Fresno State as a freshman. She speaks six languages, including English, French, German, Swiss, Slovakian and Swiss German.
Tallo’s mother was a professional volleyball player until she retired after Tallo was born. Because of her father’s job as a professional volleyball coach, her family traveled constantly.
“We traveled a lot for his job and we went wherever he had to coach,” Tallo said.
When Tallo was 6 years old, her family moved to Kuwait, where her dad was coaching, and lived there for two years. Her family left after the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein in 1990.
“We had to get out because of the Gulf War,” Tallo said. “As soon as they could, the government evacuated all foreigners to make sure no one would get hurt. That would have been bad.”
It was then her family moved to Switzerland, where they ended up settling in Schaffhausen. Tallo came from Switzerland in 2001 to play for Fresno State.
Her family was big on volleyball, but Tallo said she got tired of being around it all the time.
“I was sick of being around volleyball. I wanted to try something new,” Tallo said.
She started playing tennis when she was 10 and competed in numerous junior tournaments in Switzerland. She was ranked No. 2 nationally in the under-18 category in 2000. She also advanced to the semifinals in the Swiss Junior Championships and the Swiss National Championships in 1999-00.
Tallo started thinking about coming to the United States to play tennis because, in Switzerland, there are no college sports programs. She wanted to continue her tennis career, so she started researching different schools and meeting coaches.
“I was 18 and I didn’t want to quit school or tennis,” Tallo said. “I wanted to do both, so by coming to the U.S., I didn’t have to decide.”
Plenty of recruiters were interested in Tallo. She said she was recruited by Alabama, Arizona, Florida State and Mississippi, in addition to Fresno State.
“I chose Fresno State because of the coach at the time and because it had a good tennis program,” Tallo said.
Fresno State was ranked eighth in the nation when Tallo arrived.
Since starting her career at Fresno State, Tallo has seen some rankings of her own. At the end of last year, the International Tennis Association ranked Tallo 80th in the nation in singles and fifth in the county in doubles along with former partner Jelena Pandzic, who has since been ruled ineligible.
The ITA has recognized Tallo in its rankings every semester since she was a sophomore.
Tallo gives a lot of credit to her team for her own success.
“We have a great team, and we have experienced people. You can’t win by yourself, and the whole team gets along and it is just great,” she said.
Because of the ineligibility of Pandzic, Tallo is now teaming with junior Katharina Winterhalter in doubles.
“Lucia has worked her way up and she consistently improves and gets better every year,” Winterhalter said.
The team has a solid connection to one another, and it shows in Tallo’s success.
When she isn’t practicing six days a week, Tallo is busy in the classroom. She is majoring in mass communication and journalism (public relations and broadcast journalism) and is receiving a minor in political science.
Tallo graduates this May and wants to work in public relations or sports marketing. She hasn’t decided whether she wants to stay here in the United States or go back home to Switzerland, where her family still lives.
Her hard work and discipline have helped the team stay in the rankings all season. The Bulldogs (3-4) are currently No. 40 in the nation.
Doubles partner Katharina Winterhalter said she is expecting a good year with Tallo.
“Lucia is one of the core players of the team,” Winterhalter said. “She puts the team ahead of herself and pushes the team to do our best.
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