SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — Marina Fuduric dreamed about playing tennis at the top levels.
The Shawnee Township resident is one step closer to that dream. Last week, the five-star recruit officially committed to play tennis for the Indiana University women’s tennis team next year. She’s now a senior at Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., where she’s been since her eighth-grade year.
“Since then, I’ve been doing a lot of hours on the court, and then keeping up with school as well,” she said. “It’s really hard to balance, but I’ve found a way to balance in a way that I’ve been able to be successful.”
Fuduric said since leaving Lima and heading to South Carolina, she’s become faster on a tennis court and has improved the consistency with her shots. She credits her coaches at the academy, Eric Turner and B.J. Stearns, for that.
She was back in Lima at Westwood Tennis & Fitness Center this week, catching up with old friends from her days at St. Charles Elementary and people she used to play tennis with in her younger days.
She reflected on the decision to leave Lima to pursue her dream. Earlier this month, she played in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tennis Classic in New Orleans in the girls’ 18 and under singles. She’s now recovering from a partially torn quad muscle and hoped to be ready for a national tournament Friday.
“It was a really, really hard decision for me, especially because my family couldn’t come with me. I decided with tennis, I really wanted to do it at the highest level I possibly could, which is Division I tennis and maybe professional tennis after, depending on how I do.”
Playing other elite players helped her get to that goal, she said. She spends about five hours a day on tennis Monday through Friday, with two hours on Saturday. She also has fitness training on days.
Her family took her to the tennis academy after her seventh-grade year to be sure she liked it, after years of training from Westwood tennis director Jeff Brown.
“After the first few days, she said, ‘I think I really want to do this. I can’t get this kind of competition at home,’” said her mother, Wendy Fuduric.
After a second week there by herself, Wendy and her husband, Joe, agreed to let her stay at the tennis academy, as long as she maintained straight A’s in school and continued to improve. Her family just tried to adjust without her.
“It was nerve-wracking, and it was really difficult having her gone from our home and family,” her mother said. “We were missing a large part of her general day-to-day activities growing up, which was very difficult. But I knew it was an opportunity that wouldn’t come around very often, and it was so hard to deny it.”
Now the Fudurics have a second daughter, Lucia, at Smith Stearns.
It’s a path Marina’s glad she chose, and she’s being rewarded with a scholarship to a Big Ten school.
“I love the competitive aspect of it, and seeing the work you put in just show up during competitions,” she said. “It’s just really neat to see.”
Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.
