Sophomore, Carlin Bukovac, has made a splash into the Latrobe tennis environment with her two years on the team. In her first season of her high school career, she received the position of first singles, which is the number one spot of the varsity team. Continuing onto her sophomore year, she has maintained that role. It wasn’t an easy journey to attain this position, but she was determined to be the best she could be.
Carlin started playing tennis when she was 8, but just as a leisure activity. She participated in the elementary school aqua club and she believed that swimming was her passion. But, as she grew into her early teen years, she discovered her love for tennis was growing. She made the executive decision to quit swimming and to pursue tennis full-time, along with her brother Blaise. After dipping her toes in to see if she liked the sport, she full-dove into training to be the best she could be.
Throughout both seasons, she has had many challenging matches, such as Franklin Regional and Penn Trafford. Her main motivation going into these daunting matches is to try her hardest and play to the best of her abilities. If she loses, she knows its okay because she tried her hardest and that’s all that matters. She learns from her defeats and uses it to push her to want to improve and she continues on, not dwindling in the past. Keeping a fresh outlook allows for her to stay positive and continue to dominate the rest of the season and keep her confidence of what a powerful role she is for the team.
After the season comes to an end, she continues to improve. She regularly attends the Greensburg Racquet Club for private lessons and clinics. These provide extra repetitions and personalized training catered to what she wants to work on. When she isn’t at the club, she trains strength and speed at the Rusnock Sports Performance center. She is nonstop advancing her dexterity and putting in the work off season.
While focusing on tennis on the high school level, she closely follows the professional level to encourage her to reach her goals. Her favorite player whom she also views as her prime inspiration is Carlos Alcaraz. “He is in love with the sport on and off of the court.” She enjoys watching him play most because although he may lose a match, he seems to always enjoy the sport. Being at that level is enough for him, and the outcome isn’t as important as having fun. She applies that to her matches as well to bring herself back to why she began playing in the first place.
Overall, achieving first singles for Carlin has been a dream come true. “Being first singles both of my underclassman years is an honor to be able to represent my school and tennis team as their number one player.” Having the honor and opportunity to compete as one of the key players on the team is not beside her. She is forever thankful for her chance to represent the school and compete for greatness. Her tennis journey has been a heartwarming and entertaining experience for all of those in her life.
