At the age of seven when she began playing, junior Liina Suurvarik never thought her tennis career would come this far.
At first, I always did it because it was routine. My dad would bring me to practice everyday and I just played. At that age, it was more like soccer than tennis.
Then at age 11 or 12, I started being more serious and practicing more seriously. I never thought about whether I liked it or not, I just did it. You start winning and it feels good. Its addictive.
Suurvariks addiction has certainly paid off.
Prior to coming to Illinois State, Suurvarik was the 1998 and 1999 Estonian National Champion in doubles and mixed doubles.
When asked what that experience was like, the modest champion giggled, Its a small country, its not really a big deal. Suurvarik explained that, in Estonia, there are only 20 or 30 females who play at that level.
Suurvarik was also the 1998 and 1999 player of the year, an accomplishment in which she said she liked the most and was the best feeling.
Suurvarik came to Illinois State because she always knew she wanted to come to the States. She actually had a book of colleges in the states and just starting picking colleges from the Midwest. She sent letters to several coaches, and Illinois State head coach Chris Hoover replied with the most interest and enthusiasm.
I thought ISU would be a good place for me because I already knew someone here, Alesia Mikalayeva. We werent really friends, but we had talked a few times and played against each other twice.
Mikalayeva, a Minsk, Belarus native, and Suurvarik hit it off from the start.
We fit together from the beginning and did very well from the beginning Suurvarik said. In my first year [Mikalayevas second] we only lost to Stanford.
Suurvarik said her time here has gone by very quickly even though she had to make some adjustments to American life.
The hardest for me was getting used to the way things are done here, said Suurvarik. We used to lift weights but we did it differently there. Here you still have to do things you dont want to do. There, it more on an individual basis so you could talk about things more if you didnt like the way something was done.
I never thought I would be this busy, Suurvarik continued. But Ive enjoyed my time here. I have had a lot of good times with my team. They are my main friends because we spend so much time together.
When Suurvarik does get some free time in her busy schedule, she enjoys reading.
I like the best sellers, the classics, the old French authors. When I was younger, I used to read the detective stories but Ive grown away from that.
Suurvarik also enjoys listening to music.
I always have my headphones with me. It makes the walk between classes go faster. Her favorite band is U2, but she likes any type of music.
After graduating with an international business degree, Suurvarik plans to go to graduate school somewhere in the United States, maybe even at Illinois State. At first she wanted to go back to Estonia after college, but now she would like to stay in the U.S. if she can get a good job.
Suurvarik said she has always been a good student. She currently carries a 3.85 grade point average and was named Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Oct. 11, 2002.
I used to travel and be away from school a lot. I learned to study on my own and all the teachers appreciated that.
When asked what one thing most people didnt know about her, Suurvarik laughed, Im pretty easy to read. People may think Im real serious all the time, but I can act really goofy and immature at times.
