Jan. 29, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State men's tennis received a boost this weekend as newcomer Filip Miljevic began play with the team. Miljevic was able to pick up a win in his first match as a Redbird, defeating Tim O'Brien (UIC), 6-0, 6-2.
"Filip is a good strong athlete," said head coach Cris James. "He has some good experience with national and international competition."
Miljevic, who hails from Novi Sad, Serbia, will have plenty of teammates to relate with regarding the transition, as five of his six Redbird teammates are foreign, including senior Luka Marinkovic, who also hails from Serbia.
"It is always a tough adjustment period getting used to college, especially for international kids," said James, regarding the freshman Miljevic. "He is handling all of the changes very well. Certainly having guys on the team who have had similar experiences will help. Having a fellow Serbian like Luka around will also help him as he learns to adjust to American culture."
Miljevic has had to play a bit of catch up as travel issues delayed his arrival on campus until a week after classes began. The delay also caused Miljevic to miss the `Birds season opening trip to Wichita, Kan. to compete in the Shocker Invitational.
"I know he is sore and tired from having to catch up in the classroom and in the weight room," said James. "We are going to put him in a position to succeed early though. That should help him become more comfortable and gain some confidence hopefully he will be ready to do some damage for us by the time the conference season rolls around."
Miljevic was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia before moving to Novi Sad, Serbia. He is the son of Nenad and Natalija Miljevic and has a twin brother born seven minutes after him. He will be majoring in business administration at Illinois State.
