Vucic gunning for state title
After mastering the competition through the regular season, as well as the district and region tournaments, Warren County High School’s Tina Vucic finds herself among the final eight players in the state this week.
Vucic, a senior exchange student from Yugoslavia, will face Brentwood’s Hayley Dittus when the TSSAA Class AAA girls singles tennis tournament begins Wednesday at Chattanooga’s Baylor School.
With a record of 21-0 heading into Wednesday’s match, Vucic said her success this season has been somewhat surprising.
“It’s really great,” she said. “I didn’t expect to have such good results here, because I thought in America they’d have a lot of good players.
“It’s really fun, and I have enjoyed it because the teams were talking about me and looking forward to playing with me. But I’m looking forward to the state, I feel there will be better players there, and I’m hoping to play well.”
Wednesday’s opening round is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CDT, with the semifinals to follow at 3 p.m. A win over Dittus could mean a matchup between Vucic and Houston’s Kristin Noble, the 2001 girls champion.
“They say that she is a very good player, so I’m preparing for that match and then we’ll see what happens from there,” Vucic said of her opening-round foe. “I hope I can win the championship, and I’m looking forward to facing other good players.”
The singles championship is scheduled for 9 a.m. CDT Thursday.